Connecting the dots on Rochester’s environment. Find out what’s going
on environmentally in our area—and why you should care.
For all Daily Updates going back to 1998, go to
Update Archives.

Local
Media Doing their Job on Our Environment?

Coming up with a policy or an evaluation on the state of one's
environment is impossible without data. This truism is so obvious
that it need not be expressed if it were not a fact that so many
engage in both without enough information to support either.

The government at the local, state, and federal levels does not have
enough money (for whatever reasons) to pay for all the independent,
objective and thorough studies needed to fully understand all an
area’s flora and fauna and their interrelations, their ecology.
Neither do universities; neither do environmental
organizations--though all cover various pieces of the puzzle that is
our complex environment.

There's one group left who can and should help the public evaluate
the state of our environment - the media.
Besides making a profit, the media's job historically and manifestly
is to inform the public on all critical matters, which, I submit,
includes the state of our environment. We need a healthy
environment to survive and to do so we need a timely and complete
picture of it. We, the public, need information to be able to
form evaluations and policies on our environment, so we can
anticipate dangers, decide on solutions, and choose responsible
leaders. Without a
media with trained environmental reporters, a vital ingredient in
the equation of a sustainable environment goes missing.
Scientists cannot see all that occurs in the environment despite
their expertise.

The government won't notice danger signals, except those they are
predisposed to see. Environmentalists would have little to evaluate
the health of our environment and the roles of those responsible.
And the public, without a media fully tuned to the environment, will
think everything is going fine until a disaster indicates a tipping
point and the aftermath splashes across the headlines.

This is all to say that in recent years it is becoming increasingly
obvious that because of financial and other extraneous
considerations, our local media is experiencing a dearth of trained
dedicated environmental reporters. Only these professionals, who
have the time and training to gather all the information from all
the participants in our environment, can fill this critical role in
our society. Without them, what we get is a disparate snapshot of
events going on in our environment that may or may not spell
disaster. A dedicated environmental reporter in each of our print
and visual media would have the necessary, continual contacts to
provide us with the depth and perspective that environmental stories
need. If our local media were doing their job, we could be
anticipating environmental problems, instead of trying to catch up
to long-standing realities .

SEARCH: Use search engine below to find anything posted since
1998.

These are the daily recordings of what I believe are important indicators
of our Rochester-area environment --since 1998. For all Daily Updates,
go to
Update Archives

3/03/2015 - Take home
message about the Water Quality
in our lakes and rivers: “sewage treatment plants aren’t
equipped to filter out pharmaceuticals” Of course,
pharmaceuticals in our water aren’t even half the problem with
our riparian ecologies. We’ve treated our rivers so badly since
pre-Columbian days that it’s a wonder they are considered
ecologies at all. Several hundred years ago our rivers were
almost impossible to canoe through because there was so many
fish. Fishing was done with baskets. Today, even if you do catch
a fish in our rivers, you might think twice about eating it.Rivers on
drugs They're beautiful on the surface, but, our rivers are
on drugs. The scientists at the Cary Institute for Ecological
Studies say their findings show human drug use is having an
increasing impact on the amphibious environment. PPCP’s are
leaking into our waterways and changing the ecology. That’s
pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Associate Scientist
at the Cary Institute, Emma Rosie Marshall says people don’t
fully metabolize most of the drugs they take and they’re coming
out in our waste products which then seep into waterways. (March
2, 2015) Innovation Trail
[more on Water Quality in our
area]

3/03/2015 - Just how
important are the COP21
Paris Climate talks? Opinions vary: physics doesn’t. If there
was a Plan B if UN Climate talks fail, those plans would already
be in place and working. The UN climate talks are not stopping
anyone or any nation from dramatically reducing their greenhouse
gases and adapting to Climate Change. Those against the UN
climate talks are against finding real solutions to this
worldwide crisis and many have used the UN climate talks
processes as a scapegoat. This blaming strategy won’t fix the
problem, it just presents those dragging their feet more
opportunity to delay and make Climate Chang worse.
Connie Hedegaard: credibility of UN climate process hangs on
Paris talks All leaders must rise to the challenge for
December 2015, warns outgoing EU climate chief
Climate change talks next year will be make or break for
international efforts to curb global warming, with the
credibility of the UN-backed process at stake, the outgoing EU
climate chief, Connie Hedegaard, has warned. World leaders are
expected to sign an agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions
from 2020 onwards at a Paris conference in December 2015. It
could be pivotal in climate negotiations, if China, the US and Europe agree
to hold global warming within what scientists say are safe
limits. But the risks are great, according to Hedegaard, who
recently left the post of European commissioner for climate
action and hosted the Copenhagen climate talks in 2009. “Say Paris could
not deliver,” she said to the Guardian. “Who would believe the
UN process would have credibility after that? That is what [we
need] to make leaders understand – it’s now.” (December 28,
2014) The Guardian
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

3/03/2015 - Stark
contract between the folks who helped stop
Fracking in NYS attempting to leverage that victory with a
call for renewable energy and the folks who still want Fracking
no matter how evidence show Fracking is bad for our health, our
water, our environment, and making Climate Change worse. After
six years of dreading the specter of Fracking, it was thrilling
to watch “The
Solutions Grassroots Tour: "A Solar Home Companion" Buffalo with
Josh Fox and Zephyr Teachout” because we have an opportunity
now that Fracking is banned to power our lives with clean
energy. Much should be done to
pave the way for renewable energy because we’ve lost a lot
of time in New York, having had our attention hijacked by
Fracking. More on “The
Solutions Grassroots Tour”
Fracking boosters, foes ponder what's next Without
hesitation, Kirkwood resident Marchie Diffendorf can recall the
exact date of the phone call: Dec. 7, 2007. It was a landman
with a natural-gas company: Would he be interested in leasing
the natural-gas rights to his 60-acre property in the rural
Broome County town he's lived in his whole life? Around that
same time, someone knocked on the door of Eileen Hamlin's
blue-sided, one-story Kirkwood home — 2½ miles from Diffendorf's
— with a similar offer. Take the deal today, the man said,
because it will be gone tomorrow. Seven years and 10 days later,
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration announced
a decision that shocked them both: An effective ban on
high-volume hydraulic fracturing, the much-debated technique
that promised to unlock the gas in the Marcellus Shale formation
a mile below the surface. (March 2, 2015)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle [more on
Fracking in
our area]

3/03/2015 - Of course,
the looming warming spike caused by oceans being unable to
absorb more heat may also be more than we can handle. The
problem with denial and ‘wait and see’ is that we should have
been planning instead of waiting around to see if the worse of
Climate Change hits because we may not be able to handle the
consequences when Nature ‘brings it on.’
Looming Warming Spurt Could Reshape Climate Debate Humanity
is about to experience a historically unprecedented spike in
temperatures. That’s the ominous conclusion of a vast
and growing body of research that links sweeping Pacific
Ocean cycles with rates of warming at the planet’s surface —
warming rates that could affect how communities and nations
respond to threats posed by climate change. Papers in two
leading journals this week reaffirmed that the warming effects
of a substantial chunk of our greenhouse gas pollution have been
avoided on land for the last 15 to 20 years because of a phase
in a decades-long cycle of ocean winds and currents. With
Pacific trade winds expected to slacken in the years ahead, the
studies warn that seas will begin absorbing less of global
warming’s energy, and that some of the heat they’ve been holding
onto will rise to the surface. (February 27, 2015)
Climate Central
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/28/2015 - The
NYS Dept. of Health
updates website but still doesn’t list Climate Change, you still
have to do a search to
Learn About Climate Change. The DOH’s website should have
the public health issues of Climate Change front and center on
their website so that the public knows that the DOH knows that
Climate Change is a critical public health issue and that to
address it properly plans must be made and to do this the public
must be engaged. But the public won’t get engaged if the DOH
continues to bury the links between the state health department
and Climate Change. When will our state’s health department (not
to mention
Monroe
County Public Health Department) take a leadership role in
protecting public health by planning for Climate Change.

2/28/2015 - On the
other hand, I think we CAN rush to judgment on the success or
failure of Paris Climate
Change treaty if everyone comes to the table empty handed.
Any way you slice it, if we don’t start taking dramatic actions
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we can not only say that the
Paris talks were a failure, but that humanity has failed itself.
As we get closer and close to the December Paris talks, there
will be a lot of downplaying on the importance of this treaty.
But the proof will be in the pudding. Time passes.
Todd Stern: Don’t rush to judge Paris climate change deal Chief
US negotiator says December 2015 summit will be first step in
series of deals up to and beyond 2020 The world should not
rush to judgment on the outcome of the Paris talks on climate
change later this year, president Obama’s chief climate change
official has warned, as it would take a few years for the
effects to become apparent. Declaring the talks a success or
failure too soon would be a distortion, said Todd Stern, US
envoy for climate change and the country’s lead negotiator in
the UN talks. “We will not know in 2015,” he said. “The rush to
judgment, that this [agreement] does not do enough [for
example], is not the way to think about this.” (February 27,
2015) Responding to Climate Change
(RTCC) [more on Climate Change
in our area]

2/28/2015 - Before,
when we were oblivious of our CO2 emissions, Antarctica was just
a great big cold spot on Earth. Now’s it’s scary. Many have
thought (and many still do) think that humanity is too puny to
affect something as incredibly large as our planet and yet we
are shrinking both polar regions of our planet—while we watch.
Time passes.
The big melt: Antarctica's retreating ice may re-shape Earth
From the ground in this extreme northern part of Antarctica,
spectacularly white and blinding ice seems to extend forever.
What can't be seen is the battle raging thousands of feet
(hundreds of meters) below to re-shape Earth. Water is eating
away at the Antarctic ice, melting it where it hits the oceans.
As the ice sheets slowly thaw, water pours into the sea — 130
billion tons of ice (118 billion metric tons) per year for the
past decade, according to NASA satellite calculations. That's
the weight of more than 356,000 Empire State Buildings, enough
ice melt to fill more than 1.3 million Olympic swimming pools.
And the melting is accelerating. In the worst case scenario,
Antarctica's melt could push sea levels up 10 feet (3 meters)
worldwide in a century or two, recurving heavily populated
coastlines. Parts of Antarctica are melting so rapidly it has
become "ground zero of global climate change without a doubt,"
said Harvard geophysicist Jerry Mitrovica. (February 27, 2015)
AP The Big Story [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/28/2015 - I know,
for some reason or other we’re not supposed to connect the dots
between plants moving around and Climate Change. Yet, the ‘New
plant hardiness zone’ released in 2012 by the USDA is a rather
compelling…, or should I say plants moving northward or
southward because of rising climate temperatures.., maybe I cans
say this: “If you continue to plant seeds according to
historical data, a lot of your plants ain’t gonna grow because
the growing seasons have changed.” Which of course, is what
Climate Change predicts.USDA Plant
Hardiness Zone Map The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone
Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine
which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is
based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into
10-degree F zones. For the first time, the map is available as an
interactive GIS-based map, for which a broadband Internet connection
is recommended, and as static images for those with slower Internet
access. Users may also simply type in a ZIP Code and find the
hardiness zone for that area.
United States
Department of Agriculture USDA

2/27/2015 - The March
2015 newsletter of the Rochester Regional Group of the Sierra
Club “The
eco-logue” has been posted online and it is full of great
local environmental stuff. The first article describes the major
Rochester Earth Day event, a visit by Dr. James Hansen:
"17th Annual Environmental Forum, Dr. James Hansen: Climate,
Energy, and Intergenerational Justice, Tuesday, April 21,
6:30-8:30pm. The Theater (Building 4) at Monroe Community
College, 1000 East Henrietta Road (Route 15A) Rochester, NY
14623.”

2/27/2015 - Several
years an author writing about Global Warming said carbon dioxide
(Co2) is the fuse and methane (CH4) is the bomb. Is the bomb
going off? One of the things that characterizes Climate Change
is that however humanity characterizes it, Climate Change is
mostly physics. We, humanity that is, can ignore it, we can
dismiss it, we can deny it, and we can put it off until we’re
ready to deal with it, but unless we address it we will not stop
it. If we have already waited so long that the CO2 has warmed up
the permafrost to the point where the methane is going to be
released in vast quantities, we won’t just have to put out a
fire, we’ll have to put out a bomb. That will be hard to do
indeed.
The Siberian crater saga is more widespread — and scarier — than
anyone thought In the middle of last summer came news of a
bizarre occurrence no one could explain. Seemingly out of
nowhere, a massive crater appeared in one of the planet’s most
inhospitable lands. Early estimates said the crater, nestled in
a land called “the ends of the Earth” where temperatures can
sink far below zero, yawned nearly 100 feet in diameter. The
saga deepened. The Siberian crater wasn’t alone. There were two
more, ratcheting up the tension in a drama that hit its climax
as a probable explanation surfaced. Global warming had thawed
the permafrost, which had caused methane trapped inside the icy
ground to explode. “Gas pressure increased until it was high
enough to push away the overlaying layers in a powerful
injection, forming the crater,” one German scientist
said at the time. (February 26, 2015)
The Washington Post
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/26/2015 - Since it
hasn’t been this cold in Rochester, NY since 1871, shouldn’t our
media mention extreme weather and
Climate Change? If our media doesn’t suggest that there’re
might even be a teeny-weeny scintilla of a chance that our
extreme cold might be related to Climate Change (maybe perhaps a
warmer Arctic pushing colder weather our way) the public is
going to think that the great big debate over Climate Change and
denial is over and the denialist have won. Which would be odd
since 2014 was the warmest year in human history and the
trajectory for worldwide warming is to get catastrophically
warmer. Our media, including our local media, is agog over this
extreme cold and never mentions Climate Change—not even the hint
that a worldwide climate crisis is going on. What’s wrong with
this picture? The COP21
Paris Treaty is coming up in December and it may be humanity’s
last change to bring down greenhouse gas emissions to a safe
level and nary a word about all this in the local media.
Bitter cold morning breaks long-standing records in Northeast,
Midwest With just a few days left in meteorological winter,
bitter cold continues in the eastern United States, where
Tuesday morning lows were running 30 to 40 degrees below average
from Indiana to New England. For some, it was the coldest
morning on record so late in the season. Dozens of daily record
lows fell Tuesday morning, by as much as 20 degrees. A few
readings have broken century-old records, including those in
Pittsburgh; Akron-Canton, Ohio; Hartford, Conn.; and
Indianapolis. In Rochester, N.Y., the low of minus-9 degrees
tied the record set in 1889. Records in Rochester go back to
1871. (February 24, 2015)
Washington Post
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/26/2015 - Shouldn’t
we be bringing Native perspectives and knowledge into addressing
Climate Change in the
Great Lakes region? There is much
missing from the Climate Change discussion in our region
(including the discussion itself) about how our region in the
Great Lakes should adapt to and mitigate Climate Change. It is
imperative that the use the knowledge and wisdom of the peoples
who lived here for many millennia (without warming the place up
and bringing it to environmental collapse) be brought into the
discussion.“Gikinoo’wizhiwe
Onji Waaban” (Guiding for Tomorrow) or “G-WOW” Changing Climate,
Changing Culture "The “Gikinoo’wizhiwe Onji Waaban” (Guiding
for Tomorrow) or “G-WOW” Initiative is a unique approach to
increasing awareness of how climate change is affecting Lake
Superior’s coastal environment, people, cultures, and economies
by: Integrating scientific climate change research
with place-based evidence of how climate change is affecting
traditional Ojibwe lifeways and people of all cultures. Bringing
Native perspectives and involvement to addressing issues of
climate change by directly engaging Native communities,
educators, and students. Providing learners with knowledge about
what they can do to mitigate or adapt to a changing climate. "

2/26/2015 - Actually,
food waste has been a serious problem for a long time—despite
economists just ‘getting it.’ It’s nice that economists are just
starting to get around to the idea that dumping food into our
landfills, instead of composting that food and making our soils
rich and health again, is a really bad practice. There should be
no food waste while people are going hungry, no food waste to
increase greenhouse gases in a time of Climate Change, no food
waste being burned for fuel, no food waste at all on a finite
planet. Had we been paying attention to the environmental and
public health issues on food waste, instead of the present loony
economic issues, we wouldn’t be at this desperate stage.
Food Waste Is Becoming Serious Economic and Environmental Issue,
Report Says WASHINGTON — With millions of households across
the country struggling to have enough to eat, and millions of
tons of food being tossed in the garbage, food waste is
increasingly being seen as a serious environmental and economic
issue. A report released Wednesday shows that about 60 million
metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, with
an estimated value of $162 billion. About 32 million metric tons
of it end up in municipal landfills, at a cost of about $1.5
billion a year to local governments. The problem is not limited
to the United States. (February 25, 2015)
New York Times [more on
Food and our Environment in our area]

2/26/2015 - The
IPCC under Rajendra Pachauri’s
leadership has grown to be a reliable monitoring body for
critical Climate Change feedback. Humanity has a tendency to
‘kill the messenger’ when we are being given news we do not
like, news that cannot be bought off for a pleasanter sort of
message. In order to address Climate Change we need dedicated
leaders like Rajendra Pachauri who have only our environment’s
sustainability as their goal.
Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri, who resigned from the
world's foremost body on climate science, oversaw an
international effort to highlight the strength of scientists'
conclusions. Rajendra Pachauri, who resigned Tuesday from
chairmanship of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
amid charges of sexual harassment, presided over the
international effort to forge consensus on climate change during
eight years in which the science grew stronger, but so did the
attacks. At the high point of the Indian engineer and
economist's tenure, in 2007, he accepted the Nobel Prize on
behalf of the monumental effort to bring together the work of
more than 2,000 scientists in readable volumes accepted by
governments. The low point, before the allegations that face
Pachauri now, came in 2010 when the panel was forced to admit it
had included in its assessment an unfounded
claim that the Himalayas could melt by 2035. But perhaps the
most difficult issues that the IPCC has
faced on Pachauri's watch have been born of its very mission of
delivering "policy-relevant" science, while staying out of
politics. (February 24, 2015)
The Daily Climate
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/25/2015 - [I had
posted this comment on the WHAM website, but it was taken down.
I wonder: did our local media find comments about Climate Change
too controversial to even all the public to comment on? If so,
this would be Climate Change denial indeed, and tragic because
it is in our local media where ‘we the people’ should be able to
discuss important stuff. ] Yeah, if
you are planning our infrastructure through the lens of
Climate Change, you can plan
for widespread freezing pipes. The whacky weather—including
extreme cold and snowfall and heat and back and forth—is part
and parcel of Climate Change
predictions in our region. This means it will wreak havoc on
our various infrastructures—water,
waste,
transportation, telecommunications—if we don’t make them
more robust and resilient. So saying that there is no way we can
plan for this is Climate Change denial. If the public was more
aware of what is coming (and is already here) because of Climate
Change, they would support the measures needed to retrofit our
infrastructures—which will be very expensive.
Water Authority pipes freezing in extreme cold Irondequoit,
N.Y. - The extreme cold weather has left a number of homeowners
with frozen pipes. The Monroe County Water Authority is also
being faced with this problem. "We probably right now have about
40 frozen services out of about 180,000 customers," said Steve
Trotta, Distribution Manager for the Monroe County Water
Authority. "Last year we've had a few but it's been quite a
number of years since we've had really cold winter like this." A
crew was out on St. Paul Boulevard in Irondequoit Tuesday
afternoon, working to thaw frozen pipes. "We'll just thaw it out
with actually steam and hot water," explained Trotta. (February
24, 2015) WHAM [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/25/2015 -
Considering how much damage the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid will
cause on our local trees and lakes, we should connect the dots
with Climate Change. According
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (and many other official
studies for that matter), the rise in this invasive species in
our area is caused in-part by Climate Change. Read the service’s
web page:
Climate Change Invites Invasive Insect North Ignoring and
not informing the public that Climate Change is one of the main
culprits of this major invasive
species problem in our area is a lost opportunity for the
media to educate the public on how pervasive and critical
addressing Climate Change is for our region. We’ll never
irradiate the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid until we slow down Climate
Change, which by the way will also make keeping our Hemlock tree
problematic as they like cold temperatures.
A woolly bully threatens hemlock trees in hills surrounding
Canandaigua Lake The invasive hemlock woolly adelgid is also
considered a threat to the quality of Canandaigua Lake Then
again, horror stories can come in small packages. This invasive
species started showing up in the Finger Lakes region about
seven years ago and has been discovered in several locations
around Canandaigua Lake, said Hilary Mosher, coordinator of the
Finger Lakes Partnership for Regional Invasive Species
Management (PRISM) at the Finger Lakes Institute at Hobart and
William Smith Colleges in Geneva. (February 25, 2015)
Penfield Post [more on
Invasive Species in our area]

2/25/2015 - This
sounds interesting. From the comfort of your home take a FREE
crash course ‘Who’s Doing What in Canada About Algal Blooms’. (
a webinar on Wednesday, March 4th from 12:00pm - 1:30pm EST)
I know, I’m not a Canadian citizen and maybe you’re not either
but the US and Canada share responsibility for protecting and
preserving the environment of the
Great Lakes. Efforts to do this means we all need to be
singing from the same playbook—as it were.
Keeping Lake Erie Alive: A Crash Course in Who’s Doing What in
Canada About Algal Blooms and Your Water We’ve all seen
pictures of the slimy green algal blooms in Lake Erie, and we
know it’s affecting our drinking water. We know nutrient
pollution is a contributing factor and is threatening many of
our precious Great Lakes. What is perhaps more confusing is
what’s being done about it. Lots of work is going on at the
federal, provincial and municipal level, but it can be hard to
keep track of it all! If you share our curiosity,
join us for a webinar on Wednesday, March 4th from 12:00pm -
1:30pm EST. A series of presentations will provide a bird’s eye
view of who is doing what on the Lake Erie algae issue. Speakers
will include Susan Humphrey from Environment Canada
(representing the Great Lakes Executive Committee Nutrients
Annex Subcommittee); Cale Selby from the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs; Kevin Money from the Essex
Region Conservation Authority, and Jill Ryan from Freshwater
Future (US). Each presenter will share what their organization
is doing about algae and nutrients in Lake Erie, as well as
their thoughts about the role for community groups in addressing
algae blooms and water quality. Learn what these organizations
are doing to reach out to communities, and join in a discussion
about how your group could be part of the solution.
Register today to reserve your spot!

2/25/2015 - Climate
Change will make the algae problems on the
Great Lakes worse. Be nice is
local media highlighted this so public gets it. Because of
warmer lake water over time, the accumulated harmful effects of
dumping more nutrients into our lakes will be accelerated by
Climate Change. This is to say
we will never get a handle on our local lake algae problems if
we don’t’ continually inform the public that
bad algae blooms that make our drinking water unsafe and
force us to close our beaches are part of the Climate Change
issue. These dots are rarely, if ever, connected in local
mainstream media.
Groups Call for Healthy Lake Erie Free from Harmful Algal Blooms
The Great Lakes Commission, an interstate agency with
representatives appointed by the governors and premiers of all
Great Lakes states and provinces, meets today in Washington, DC
about six months after nearly 500,000 residents of the Toledo
area faced a drinking water ban lasting more than two days
because a massive toxic algal bloom made water from Lake Erie
unsafe to drink. Even though the region is firmly in winter’s
grip, spring is on its way and the same factors that lead to the
toxic algal blooms each summer in western Lake Erie will return
once again. Even more concerning: thanks to previous damage to
the lake, the impacts of invasive zebra and quagga mussels that
exacerbate pollution problems, and the effects of a changing
climate, the nutrient problem will likely get worse if we do
nothing. It is unacceptable that Lake Erie has been polluted so
significantly that drinking water for approximately 11 million
Americans and Canadians is at risk. Fortunately, this problem is
not out of our control. It is preventable. (February 24, 2015)
Sierra Club Michigan Chapter [more on
Great Lakes and
Climate Change in our area]

2/25/2015 - Another
reason—no drop in propane costs for locals—why storing massive
amounts of gas at Seneca Lake is wrongheaded. When you connect
the dots with gas storage and our environment and fossil fuel
and Climate Change and the wine industry and keeping our water
safe, storing a lot (really a lot) of gas at Seneca Lake
shorelines is a really, really bad idea.
Seneca Lake’s Propane Export Scheme The promoters of
the Seneca Lake Propane Bomb in a Partially Collapsed Salt
Cavern have been telling locals that pumping millions of gallons
of highly explosive propane into a partially collapsed salt
cavern was going to dramatically lower their propane costs. In a
word, frack no. Just the opposite of lower. Not only higher
priced but none. No local propane. Since propane if fungible,
its price has not varied much in the US. Moreover. But since the
US is now a net exporter of propane, the domestic price is
likely to go up – as
exports rise – and the price and local availability is gamed
for profit. Since propane is worth more on the export market,
not only will it go overseas, but local domestic deliveries can
be curtailed, as they were last winter – which lead to a
midwinter shortage of propane “for locals.” Some
of whom froze to death as a result. Because it was more
lucrative to export the propane than it was to sell it locally.
So not only was propane much more expensive, in some places
there was none available. Because it was on a ship off the Texas
coast going bye bye. (February 20, 2015)
NoFrackingWay [more on
Seneca Lake and
Fracking in our area]

2/25/2015 - President
Obama kills zombie XL pipeline again, GOP vows to bring it back
to life, meanwhile Climate Change worsens. With a Climate Change
denial GOP lead Congress thwarting our (meaning the world too)
efforts to adapt and mitigate Climate Change and so at this
critical year of 2015 we are diverted from actual addressing
this worldwide crisis because of a US political pissing contest.
Obama Vetoes Keystone XL Pipeline Bill, Defying GOP Defying
the Republican-run Congress, President Barack Obama rejected a
bill Tuesday to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil
pipeline, wielding his veto power for only the third time in his
presidency. Obama offered no indication of whether he'll
eventually issue a permit for the pipeline, whose construction
has become a flashpoint in the U.S. debate about environmental
policy and climate change. Instead, Obama sought to reassert his
authority to make the decision himself, rebuffing GOP lawmakers
who will control both the House and Senate for the remainder of
the president's term. (February 24, 2015)
ABC News [more on
Energy in our area]

2/25/2015 - UN’s IPCC
climate science panel provides humanity with critical Climate
Change feedback. Let’s not screw that up and blind us to this
worldwide crisis.
Big questions loom for UN’s IPCC climate science panel Today
the UN’s science panel, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), begins a week of soul searching in Nairobi,
Kenya. The panel, set up in 1988, will be tackling the questions
of a typical midlife crisis: what’s my purpose? Am I going about
it in the right way? Does anyone really care about me? As
government panels go, the IPCC is particularly introspective.
Scientists release a new assessment report every six years or
so, after which they consider in
depth the successes and failures of the process and make
suggestions for improvements. (February 24, 2015)
Responding to Climate Change
(RTCC) [more on Climate Change
in our area]

2/24/2015 - Are Bomb
Trains, pipeline leaks, radiation leaks, oil spills, and more
warming our future? Or are we going to address Climate Change.
Time passes.
West Virginia Begins Investigating Massive Train Derailment
The orange flames no longer burned bright in the snow-covered
woods near Mount Carbon in West Virginia on Friday. But days
after a massive train derailment in the small community, located
about 30 miles from the state capital, smoke still smoldered
from the enormous oil tank train cars lying perpendicular across
the tracks. The accident forced more than 100 residents from
their homes during an exceptionally cold winter and raised fears
of toxic contamination in a state still reeling from a major
chemical spill a year ago. The 109-car train was carrying more
than three million gallons of Bakken oil from North Dakota when
27 cars derailed midday on Monday, February 16, near the Kanawha
River. Residents of Mount Carbon, which has a population of some
400 people, told the media they witnessed fireballs; one house
in nearby Boomer burned down and its owner, who managed to
escape, was treated for possible injuries. River water tests
have showed no signs of oil contamination, and the water
authority has restored service after shutting water intakes from
the river. On Thursday, officials told residents it was safe to
drink water without boiling it, and by Friday morning, the last
fires had gone out and the residents of all but five households
had returned to their homes. (February 20, 2015)
Newsweek [more on
Energy in our area]

2/24/2015 - Is our DEC
merely the lapdog of hunters and fishermen, or is their first
priority our Wildlife? I know, this is
very inconvenient… but it is really the DEC’s job to make
fishing & hunting better? Or protect our Wildlife. Climate
Change is going to seriously impact our Wildlife, but unless you
speak up at these meetings about what our environmental
protection agency is doing on that front, I suspect these
meetings will not even mention Climate Change. What is the state
of New York doing to protect and preserve our Wildlife, which
play a vital role in our life support system, during Climate
Change? Are we ready to install
environmental corridors so that wildlife can relocate to
cooler areas that they evolved with? What are we doing to reduce
GHGs concentrations so that our fish, which evolved in frigid
lake water can adapt to warmer lake and stream waters? These are
questions that should have been asked and addressed decades ago.
Will we have to continually restock our fish in our lakes
because our fish cannot keep up with fishing and Climate Change?DEC Announces
State of Lake Ontario Meetings Biologists to Update Status of
Lake's Fisheries As part of Governor Cuomo's NY Open for
Fishing and Hunting Initiative, the public will have the
opportunity to learn about the State of Lake Ontario fisheries
at public meetings in Monroe, Niagara, and Oswego counties in
March, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens announced today. "Lake Ontario
anglers continue to experience outstanding fishing on Lake
Ontario and its tributaries," Commissioner Martens said. "DEC's
goal is to support the Governor's NY Open for Fishing and
Hunting Initiative by growing Lake Ontario's high-quality
angling opportunities and associated economic benefits. The
State of Lake Ontario meetings provide an excellent opportunity
for individuals interested in the lake to interact with the
scientists who study its fisheries." Lake Ontario and its
embayments and tributaries support thriving populations of fish,
including a variety of trout and salmon, bass, walleye, yellow
perch and panfish. New York's Lake Ontario waters comprise more
than 2.7 million acres. A 2007 statewide angler survey estimated
more than 2.6 million angler days were spent on Lake Ontario and
major tributaries. The estimated value of these fisheries
exceeded $112 million annually to the local New York economy.
Monday, March 3, 2014: 7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. at the Carlson
Auditorium, in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science
building (76-1125) on the Rochester Institute of Technology
(RIT) campus, Rochester, Monroe County. The meeting is co-hosted
by RIT and the Monroe County Fishery Advisory Board. (February
10, 2015) The New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) [more
on Wildlife in our area]

2/24/2015 - One of the
best ways to find out about a warming Arctic that is pushing
cold temps to Rochester is to get your ship stuck in the ice—and
stay there. Of course, don’t try this unless you know what
you’re doing. It is amazing the lengths that scientists will go
to find out what happens when our greenhouse gas emissions go up
on a life support system that is billions of years old. Sure,
the Arctic has melted before, but we weren’t around.
'This Is Really Extreme Science': Adrift in the Arctic Ice With
a Shipload of Norwegians A Norwegian research vessel has
locked itself in the shrinking ice cap to gather data needed to
predict the cap's future—and that of the planet. R.V. LANCE,
82.6 Degrees North—Curious polar bears, venturing too close to
working scientists, have had to be scared off with flares shot
from a gun. Temperatures plunging 40 degrees below zero have
snapped cables and crippled electronic instruments. But after
six weeks of total darkness, the faintest daylight is finally
reaching the frozen Arctic Ocean, where a Norwegian research
vessel has been drifting through the polar night, tethered to a
block of sea ice. Going with the floe is the whole idea. To
better understand how sea ice behaves in the Arctic, scientists
aboard the R.V. Lance have
embarked on a six-month
study, sponsored by the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), to
closely monitor sea ice across its entire seasonal life
cycle—from the time when the new ice forms in winter until it
melts in early summer. Although Norwegians have a long history
of polar exploration—in the coming months the Lance should cross
the path of the illustrious Fram, the ship on which Fridtjof
Nansen and his crew allowed themselves to be locked in the ice
in 1893—this is still an unprecedented scientific expedition. (Read
about the voyage of the Fram.) (February 23, 2015)
National Geographic
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/24/2015 - Except
issues surrounding the Seneca Lake gas storage is not simply
wind industry vs. fossil fuel industry. There are many
issues—public health, water safety, public safety, farming,
tourism, roads—and, oh yeah, the mother of all issues—Climate
Change. Building a major infrastructure for massive storage of
fossil fuels, when we should be building massive infrastructure
for more renewable energy, means renewable energy will get
screwed—which is to say we and our environment will get screwed.
Be nice if our local media could capture the full implications
of this issues instead of two industries duking it out that seem
only remotely connected to our lives and future.New
York State Exposed: Project under review could impact Finger
Lakes wine industry Should fuel be stored in the Finger
Lakes region if it could put one the state’s biggest industries
in jeopardy? The Finger Lakes wine industry brings in millions
of dollars and creates thousands of jobs in the region but those
businesses say a project currently under review by the state
could destroy what they've built. (February 23, 2015)
WHEC Rochester [more on
Seneca Lake in our
area]

2/24/2015 - I’ve been
watching PBS’s and National Geographic’s program: “EARTH
A New Wild takes a fresh look at humankind’s relationship to
the planet.” (#EarthWildPBS) For me this series highlights the
critical role that wildlife plays in
our environment, our life support system, and how we had better
learn how to live with wildlife better than we have recently.
Wildlife ain’t just road kill and for harvesting. Wildlife are
not pets; while they may seem indifferent to us and us to them,
they make our environment work. A major part of adapting to
Climate Change, which is
rarely discussed at the local level is the need to help our
wildlife adapt to a warming that is occurring far faster than
our wildlife can adapt. They are going to need our help. In
order to folks to appreciate the role of wildlife in our
environment, we need to understand the role the play because as
things become more dear, we are going to be asked to fork over a
lot of resources (money and land and water) to preserving these
vital parts of our environment. Because we haven’t been focusing
on Wildlife, many creatures fate may already be in deep trouble.

2/23/2015 - Rochester,
or any other community for that matter, will not ‘lose’ on harsh
winters if they plan for Climate Change properly. One of the
consequence of Climate Change is that it is going to be hard to
predict how our region’s weather is going to change
year-to-year, though on the whole it will get warmer. Some years
may get little snow and little cold (like the average since
1970) and others will get an extraordinary amount of snow and
cold like this year. Our Climate is getting whacky because of
Climate Change. If we begin messaging Climate Change in the
media and government, the public will be more prepared and more
likely to support more measures to adapt to and mitigate Climate
Change. If not, we will cope as best we can, until we can’t.
Rochester faces subzero temperatures, and loses (February
15, 2015)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/23/2015 - Climate
Change and transportation: At what
point does humanity cut its losses on our present transportation
system? Climate Change will produce more frequent weather
extremes—freezing and thawing, floods, sea level rise, and
heat—which will wreak bloody havoc on our present transportation
system. It boggles one’s mind why any state would not be
dramatically increasing the repair of their roads and bridges to
not only maintain this system, but get it ready for what a
warmer world would bring. So, those places that are mindlessly
NOT maintaining our aging transportation structure are going to
find themselves in major dilemma: Should they suddenly pour
billions of dollars into a system that is going to be
increasingly ravaged by Climate Change, or should they cut their
losses and move to a system—active transportation, high speed
rail, public transportation—that can better adapt to Climate
Change? Here’s the dilemma: in order for the present
transportation system to work it all has to work at the same
time, where all our roads and bridges have to be maintained
constantly to handle increasing traffic—even if much of that
traffic is fuel efficient and electric vehicles. For those
critics, who don’t want to spend public monies (their tax
dollars) on maintaining our present transportation system, which
already gobbles a lot of public money--that is absurd. We have a
tiger by the tail with our transportation system. It either all
works or it doesn’t and nobody but our government can keep this
system in repair. If the public doesn’t want to spend their tax
dollars on maintaining and adapting our present system, then
they should tell their representative they want a different,
better system that will adapt to Climate Change better. Choosing
not to choose will be a freaking disaster.
NY keeps spending more on ailing roads, bridges The Cuomo
administration budget plan would further boost infrastructure
spending ALBANY — New York has steadily increased spending on
highways and bridges over the past decade, including more
federal funds in the past five years while that support lagged
in most states, according to federal data analyzed by The
Associated Press. Total state spending on its aging highway
system rose from $6.6 billion in 2003 to $8.5 billion in 2013.
That includes construction, maintenance, administration, bond
payments, grants to municipalities, law enforcement and safety.
That's up 29 percent over the decade, though only 2 percent when
adjusting for inflation. Meanwhile, Federal Highway Trust Fund
outlays to New York rose from $1.6 billion to $2 billion. That
aid was up 21 percent for the decade and also up 11 percent the
last five years compared with an overall national drop of 7.3
percent. (February 21, 2014)
Greece Post [more on
Transportation in our area]

2/23/2015 - Rochester,
NY like much of the world will see an increase in tropical
diseases due to Climate Change. Be nice if local governments
prepared the public for that. Except that at the city, county,
and state levels our local governments don’t connect the dots
with public health and
Climate Change, unless you
know to search for it on the state Department of Health--Climate,
Weather & Health —as it is not listed on the front page. We
are so not leading on Climate Change in New York State
government level.
WHO warns of climate impact on tropical disease spread UN
health body calls for more government funds to slow spread of
malaria, dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses The World
Health Organisation says billions of dollars are needed over the
next two decades to slow the growth of diseases such as
leishmaniases, dengue and chagas. In a report
issued on Thursday it says incidences of these potentially
fatal ailments – spread by mosquitoes or poor sanitary
conditions – could accelerate as a result of climate change.
Officials say US$2.1 billion is required every year from
2015-2030 to prevent and control 17 neglected tropical diseases,
which already affect around one billion people in 149 countries.
The additional investment would represent 0.1% of healthcare
costs in affected countries over the next 15 years, says the
study. “Some of the neglected tropical diseases are no longer
strictly tropical,” said the WHO’s Dirk Engels. “The potential
for spread provides yet another strong argument for making the
needed investments.” (February 20, 2015)
Responding to Climate Change
(RTCC) [more on
Climate Change and
Environmental Health in our area]

2/23/2015 - ‘Lie to
me’. With a public who finds Climate Change inconvenient, a
doubt-mongering strategy is very effective for deniers—and the
public loses. At 2015, we have lost a lot of time of time for
adapting and mitigating Climate Change because of those who will
use every tactic they can to keep the rest from acting are
preying on our need for stability and a way of life we are used
to. ‘Lie to me’ is a Climate Change option for far too many
citizens and they are using to this excuse for their not
understanding the gravity of this crisis and not having to take
action. But, unlike all other social problems, Climate Change is
based on physics and if we continually to put more greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere the place warms up—no matter how much
we are lied to.
Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher
For years, politicians wanting to block legislation on climate
change have bolstered their arguments by pointing to the
work of a handful of scientists who claim that greenhouse gases
pose little risk to humanity. One of the names they invoke most
often is Wei-Hock Soon, known as Willie, a scientist at the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who claims that
variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global
warming. He has often appeared on conservative news programs,
testified before Congress and in state capitals, and starred at
conferences of people who deny the risks of global warming. But
newly released documents show the extent to which Dr. Soon’s
work has been tied to funding he received from corporate
interests. (February 21, 2015)
New York Times [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/21/2015 - Our future
in New York could be bright if we made a major shift to
renewable energy now and ditched Climate Change aggravators,
like fossil fuels. Technically, it’s doable, but are we ready?
Renewable-energy roadshow headed for Geneseo "A Solar Home
Companion," a renewable-energy roadshow conceived by
award-winning filmmaker Josh Fox, comes to the State University
College at Geneseo on Sunday, March 1. The Solutions
Grassroots Tour "combines classic storytelling and great
music with roll-up-your sleeves organizing to look at the
impacts of fossil fuel development and provide a vision for
developing renewable energy like no other event on the planet,"
according to promotional material. It is free and open to all,
though reservations are recommended. As its name implies, the
two-hour presentation is loosely modeled on the long-running
public radio programA Prairie Home Companion. Zephyr Teachout,
the Fordham University law professor who ran in New York's
Democratic gubernatorial primary last year, will appear at the
event. She was a strong advocate of renewable energy in her
campaign. (February 20, 2015)
Rochester Democrat
and Chronicle

2/21/2015 - NYS is
banning
Fracking but it ain’t over. There’s road spreading,
wastewater treatment, landfill disposal and more.
The Facts about New York and Fracking Waste The extraction
of natural gas using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) produces
large amounts of liquid and solid waste that can
contain a number of harmful pollutants, including salts
(sometimes expressed as total dissolved solids or TDS); chemical
additives, such as ethylene glycol, naphthalene, and sulfuric
acid; metals; organic compounds; and other contaminants. These
pollutants include chemical additives in fracking fluid, as well
as naturally-occurring contaminants that exist thousands of feet
below the surface and are mobilized by the extraction process
and come up the well along with drilling muds (used as a
lubricant during the drilling process), fracking fluids, and the
gas itself. Fracking waste from extraction activities in the Marcellus
Shale can also contain naturally-occurring radioactive materials
(NORMs) such as radium-226 and radium-228.
Riverkeeper

2/21/2015 - As the
public is increasingly able to monitor the health of our
environment, it’s going to be harder to lie to them and say that
everything is OK. Everything is not OK. Take waste for example:
Plastics and other wastes (like pharmaceuticals) don’t disappear
down our drains. They accumulate in our life support system and
create many problems. As we develop more ways of detecting our
water,
air, and land pollution and see for ourselves that
everything is not well with our environment, the public is going
to demand an accurate accounting. Previously, before the
Internet and satellites, and the worldwide monitoring of changes
due to Climate Change, we
could fool ourselves that Nature was just taking care of us no
matter what we did. That, of course, was absurd.
Keep an eye on your city's pollution in real time And
breathe… High-definition cameras are letting residents monitor
the air pollution in their cities online, and in real time. The Breathe
Project in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, worked with Carnegie
Mellon University to create the Breathe Cam – four
high-resolution cameras that capture haze and air pollution
activity, along with software that visualises the data online.
Up and running since December across Pittsburgh, the idea is
that residents equipped with accurate information can lobby more
effectively for companies and councils to stick to environmental
guidelines. Developed by the CREATE Lab at CMU's Robotics
Institute, the Breathe Cam snaps expansive panoramas of the city
24/7, which are available on the Breathe website alongside data
taken from sensors on humidity, temperature and wind speed.
(February 19, 2015) New
Scientist [more on Air Quality
in our area]

2/21/2015 - When you
have to test water in Oregon for possible water radiation from
Japan’s Fukushima disaster, it’s time to really consider
solar and
wind. Those who still think that
our use of dangerous energy—oil train bombs, oil spills, nuclear
power radiation leaks—are just the price of progress, have not
really thought this out. Continuing on a trajectory for
dangerous energy options, when there are many alternatives that
aren’t so dangerous—is a sign of maladaptation. Species that
don’t adapt to change don’t get to live another day. Our
environment comes first because it is our life support system
and thinking that our environment should find a balance between
our energy wants and the workings of
our life support system is a view of the world with upside-down
priorities.
Regulators: Treat, release Fukushima water to sea
International nuclear regulators warned this week that the
growing amount of radioactive water at Japan's crippled
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant remains a threat. In its report,
the International Atomic Energy Agency again urged the plant's
operator to treat the water to remove most of the radiation,
then dump it in the sea. "The IAEA team is of the opinion that
the present plan to store the treated contaminated water
containing tritium in above ground tanks, with a capacity of
800,000 cubic meters, is at best a temporary measure," the group
wrote. (February 19, 2015)
Statesman Journal
[more on Energy in our area]

2/21/2015 -
Considering the effects of what we eat on our environment (our
life support system) will have to be the new normal if we are to
feed 9 billion by 2050—or maybe even 12 billion by 2100.
Think of Earth, not just your stomach, panel advises The
nation’s top nutritional panel is recommending for the first
time that Americans consider the impact on the environment when
they are choosing what to eat, a move that defied a warning from
Congress and, if enacted, could discourage people from eating
red meat. Members of Congress had sought in December to keep the
group from even discussing the issue, asserting that while
advising the government on federal dietary guidelines, the
committee should steer clear of extraneous issues and stick to
nutritional advice. But the panel’s findings, issued Thursday in
the form of a 571-page report, recommended that Americans be
kinder to the environment by eating more foods derived from
plants and fewer foods that come from animals. Red meat is
deemed particularly harmful because of, among other things, the
amount of land and feed required in its production. (February
19, 2015) Washington
Post [more on Food in our area]

2/20/2015 - OK,
Assembly Speaker Heastie, who created a working group to review
NYS’s response to Climate Change, is a LEADER! I submit that
one of the ways to make sure that New York responds adequately
to Climate Change is to dramatically increase public awareness
of all aspects of our state’s attempts to mitigate and adapt to
this worldwide crisis.
Assembly Speaker Heastie Creates Group To Review NYS Response To
Climate Change The speaker of the New York state Assembly
has created a working group to review the state's response to
climate change. Speaker Carl Heastie announced the formation of
the panel on Thursday. It will consist of 10 lawmakers charged
with examining possible ways to reduce greenhouse emissions as
well as measures that could help the state prepare for future
extreme weather. (February 20, 2015)
WXXI News [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/20/2015 - The City
of Rochester, NY’s “Single
Stream Recycling Pilot Program”: the nitty gritties. Looks
like I’m part of this new pilot program and I’ll be very
interested in how it turns out. How do I know, I got a flyer
from the City. Who is a part of this test program? There’s a
document out there that covers this, but I cannot get a hold of
it. And, I have my concerns: will the test subject actually do
the right thing; will those who look for recyclable containers
upset the carts and not put the other stuff back in; what will
happen to the plan if we fail, even though the county has spent
millions of sorting equipment? I know, I worry too much. [more
on Recycling in our area]

2/20/2015 - The slow
progress deciding on Ontario Lake levels highlights the
political difficulty of adapting to Climate Change locally.
Clearly, allowing the lake’s level to be restored to healthier
ecosystem level where wetlands flourish is more adaptive to more
frequent extreme weather. But a relatively small number reject
this because it potentially harms their shoreline property. The
answer is not to allow the entire lake ecosystem to fail because
of the few, but to help compensate the few who might feel the
sting of the majority needs for a sustainable environment.
Climate Change is going to require some very inconvenient and
tough decisions, but not to make these decisions will be
catastrophic. This issue also highlights that Climate Change
discussions should not take part ‘behind closed doors’ but in
public so everyone understands the ramifications of acting and
not acting on Climate Change.
Lake-level plan lacks top-level endorsements Lake Ontario
may be nearly frozen over, but fevers still run high along the
shoreline as folks continue to debate the merit of changing the
way the lake's water levels are regulated. Many of New York's
top elected leaders, however, are playing it cool. Gov. Andrew
Cuomo, the state's two United States Senators and U.S. Rep.
Louise Slaughter have yet to take a position on the matter. Of
the four other members of Congress whose districts touch the
Lake Ontario shoreline or St. Lawrence River bank, one is
opposed, one in favor and two are skeptical and want more study.
Not exactly a tidal wave of support. (February 19, 2015)
Rochester Democrat
and Chronicle [more on Great Lakes
in our area]

2/20/2015 - Friends
don’t let their Friends get
Fracked. New York State has banned Fracking, so should our
friends in Michigan. Not only would Michigan end the endless
fighting over environmental and public health, banning Fracking,
a dangerous way of extracting fossil fuels, causes more extreme
weather (like extreme cold waves from the warming Arctic) due to
Climate Change.
Michigan activists, local governments battle to regulate
fracking LANSING — Across Michigan, citizen activists and
environmental groups are working to prevent the expansion of the
fracking industry, which they view as a threat to Michigan’s
environment. Hydraulic fracturing, most commonly referred to as
“fracking,” is a method used by energy producers to extract
natural gas and oil from wells drilled thousands of feet beneath
the earth’s surface. Environmental groups believe that the
extraction of natural gas via fracking poses a significant
threat to the environment. In the past year local governments
have worked with environmental groups to pass ordinances that
restrict the fracking industry’s ability to mine. (February 19,
2015) Great Lakes Echo
[more on
Fracking in our area]

2/20/2015 - Everybody
likes to talk about the weather, but not connect the dots with
extreme weather and Climate Change. This means we dither and
don’t plan for more extreme weather and so allow our climate to
warm beyond our ability to adapt to it.
Melting Arctic And Weird Weather: Is Climate Change At Work
Here? Everyone loves to talk about the weather, and this
winter Mother Nature has served up a feast to chew on. Few parts
of the US have been spared her wrath. Severe drought and
abnormally warm conditions continue in the west, with the
first-ever rain-free
January in San Francisco; bitter cold hangs tough over the
upper Midwest and Northeast; and New England is being buried by
a seemingly endless string of snowy nor’easters. Yes, droughts,
cold and snowstorms have happened before, but the persistence of
this pattern over North America is starting to raise eyebrows.
Is climate change at work here? Wavier jet stream One thing we
do know is that the polar jet stream – a fast river of wind up
where jets fly that circumnavigates the northern hemisphere –
has been doing some odd things in recent years. (February 18,
2015) Science 2.0 [more
on Climate Change in our area]

2/20/2015 - Increase
in extreme cold and oil bomb trains are results of using ‘all of
the above’ to solve Climate Change despite lack of connection
with mainstream media. The colder it gets, the more fossil fuel
we use, the more the fossil fuel industry drills, produces, and
ships, then the more explosions, and the more the planet warms
the Arctic, the more the extreme cold gets pushed our way, so
the colder it gets… But mainstream media only focuses on the
extreme weather and the explosions without connecting the dots.
Mainstream media needs to adapt to Climate Change. As
Extreme Cold Engulfs Eastern U.S., Fossil Fuel Mishaps Leave
Disaster Areas on Fire As extreme cold temperatures blast
the eastern third of the United States, the fossil fuel industry
has seen a series of disasters in less than a week. On
Wednesday, an explosion at an ExxonMobil refinery south of Los
Angeles rocked the surrounding area with the equivalent of a
1.4-magnitude earthquake. The blast in California happened as
oil tank cars from a derailed train remained on fire Wednesday
in West Virginia, two days after the accident. The derailment
forced the evacuation of two towns and destroyed a house. The
derailment in West Virginia happened just two days after another
oil train derailment in Ontario, Canada, which also left rail
cars burning for days. We are joined by Stephen Kretzmann,
executive director of Oil Change International. "Climate policy
and energy policy are not usually discussed together in this
country," Kretzmann says. "Climate change means that we need to
transition away from fossil fuels, sooner rather than later."
(February 19, 2015)
Democracy Now! [more on Energy and
Climate Change in our area]

2/19/2015 - New normal
of extreme weather caused by Climate Change is accompanied by
new normal of increased extreme fossil fuels explosions caused
by a craven desire to continue business as usual. Actually,
fossil fuels explosions near energy sources don’t “come with the
territory”, they only come when we continue to rely on fossil
fuels in a time of warming. Wind
farms and solar panels don’t
blow up. We should be dramatically increasing renewable energy
instead of having to get used to more violent fossil fuel
explosions. What are we thinking? Time passes.
Explosion Rips Through Torrance Refinery, Shakes South Bay
Residents near the oil refinery said the ground shook and ash
rained from above after the blast Hours after an explosion
ripped through a Torrance refinery, residents for miles around
continue to grapple with ash, a gas odor and concerns over poor
air quality while inspectors confirmed that a filtration device
was the source of the blast. A smoke advisory was issued for
areas near the ExxonMobil refinery due to Wednesday morning's
explosion and fire. (February 19, 2015)
NBGLosAngelescom

2/19/2015 - "Squirrel
Slam" killing huge amounts of squirrels for fun is not only
pathetic but environmentally immoral, meaning immoral. Squirrels
are Nature’s way of making leaves. Squirrels, even in our urban
areas, bury and disperse tree seeds, trees produce leaves,
leaves produce oxygen through photosynthesis, and we really need
oxygen. We need trees. It’s hard to believe that at this point
in our human evolution, that killing off large amounts of
creatures that make our life support system work is considered
not only a good idea, but fun. This says something about our
specie’s development—not something good. At this point in time,
Climate Change, which is
warming our environment far faster than our
wildlife can adapt, we should be
planning for the future health of our wildlife, not finding fun
ways to eliminate them.
Judge to decide fate of "Squirrel Slam" Protesters are going
to court to stop a fundraiser that involved hunting and killing
hundreds of squirrels. The event called the "Hazzard County
Squirrel Slam" raises money for the fire department in Holley,
Orleans County. Those against this event say it clarifies the
killing of animals. Yet instead of making an animal cruelty
argument, the 75 page legal complaint says the issue is an
environmental one. "It may affect the environment by affecting
large quantities of vegetation or fauna (animals)," the
complaint says. Hunters pay to be involved and can win cash
prizes given out for the most or the heaviest squirrels. The
fundraiser went on for six years without a problem until about
two years ago when it became an internet sensation and that
attracted protesters from around the country. (February 18,
2015)
WHAM Rochester [more on Wildlife
in our area]

2/19/2015 - Of course,
you don’t have to be Catholic, or an Atheist, to understand not
acting on Climate Change is immoral. Continuing on a
business-as-usual trajectory that will cook future generations
is immoral no matter what you believe.
Catholics highlight moral imperative of climate action in 40 day
fast In a chain
of one-day fasts sweeping the globe, Catholics will come
together this Lent to raise awareness of climate change.
Organised by the Global Catholic Climate Movement, the 40-day
fast will begin in Peru and end up in Botswana, moving through
45 countries including Nigeria Japan, Mexico and Hungary. The
Lenten-fast is part of the 365 day ‘Fast
for the Climate’, running from the 1st December 2014 to the
30th November 2015 – when governments will meet in Paris for the
next round of the UN climate talks. Jacqui Rémond, Executive
Director of Catholic Earthcare Australia, a group joining the
fast, said: (February 18, 2015)
tcktcktck [more on Climate
Change in our area]

2/19/2015 - Watched
GARBAGE WARRIOR A
Film about Eco Architecture, sponsored by
ColorBrightonGreen
last evening. The film shows how we can build homes that don’t
need energy, roads, waste removal, and fresh water
infrastructure (at least in some places) but you’re going to
have to fight city hall in order to have the freedom to
experiment, the freedom to fail. Film series, like
ColorBrightonGreen’s SPEAKER/FILM
SERIES, are an excellent way for local
Environmentalists to educate the public. Bringing in local
experts and documentary films that mainstream media and
theater’s don’t or won’t make available to the public are vital
to learning about Climate Change and other crucial environmental
issues that don’t get the attention they deserve.

2/19/2015 - No doubt
about it, our oceans have been sucking up too much Global
Warming and now they are sick. When they throw up that heat into
our atmosphere, our atmosphere will make us sick of the heat.
Ocean Acidification, Now Watchable in Real Time The
depressing task of monitoring ocean acidification just got a
little easier. A collection of scientists from Europe, the U.S.
and India have developed a technique that could provide the
first global and nearly real-time assessment of our rapidly
acidifying seas. Their findings were published in the journal Environmental
Science and Technology on Monday, showing how data from
satellites that measure salinity and other ocean conditions
could be combined to produce a whole new way of monitoring
acidification. Currently, scientists rely on ship, buoys, floats
and lab tests to track the data and although these disparate
pieces can construct a baseline
of acidification, there are gaps in coverage. (February 17,
2015) Climate Central
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/18/2015 - Although
Rochester’s efforts under the New Energy Plan “to encourage
community-wide energy savings by promoting more efficient
buildings, less driving and more solar panels.” These measures
are not enough. Rochester must lead on Climate Change. The
energy plan also says this: “These include reduced operating
costs, a healthier, safer and more livable community, natural
resource conservation and restoration, and mitigating and
adapting to climate change.” It’s hard to be a leader on
mitigating and adapting to Climate Change if you don’t mention
it. And why isn’t local media connecting the dots between our
use of energy and the worldwide crisis of Climate Change? The
Plan:
Rochester’s Energy Plan |
Rochester energy plan pushes community-wide efficiency The
city of Rochester intends to reduce its own energy use in coming
years, and to encourage community-wide energy savings by
promoting more efficient buildings, less driving and more solar
panels. Officials hope the city’s energy plan, released Tuesday,
will bring about a 20 percent reduction in city government’s
consumption by 2020 and a similar reduction in citywide energy
consumption by 2030. Rochester’s plan and parallel documents for
Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany and Yonkers were developed in
conjunction with the New York Power Authority. The state will
fund energy-manager positions at all five cities, and is
sponsoring a competition between
the cities for $20 million to pay for advanced energy projects.
(February 17, 2015)
Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle [more on Energy
in our area]

2/18/2015 - One of the
more craven talking points by pro-fossil fuel folks is blaming
Environmentalists for these fiery oil train explosions. The
reasoning goes something like, “Because environmentalists are
blocking building pipe lines for moving fossil fuels, the fossil
fuels industry has to resort to moving this dangerous stuff by
rail, though your towns, with a great risk to life for a long
time coming. They say, ‘Don’t blame the fossil fuel industry for
blocking renewable energy efforts, instead blame the
environmentalist who try and shift our energy options to
sustainable options.’ The worldwide crisis of Climate Change
requires that the public educate themselves on the issues
involved in energy and warming, so that they are not swayed by
craven, ruthless, and downright incorrect talking points to
further the fossil fuel industry’s agenda, and no regard for our
future.
Fiery Oil Train Derailment in West Virginia Involves Newer Tank
Cars Another train carrying crude oil has derailed in the
United States—this one erupting in flames in West Virginia. Yet
it involved newer and supposedly tougher tank cars than are
typically used in the rail industry, which is now facing
stricter U.S. and Canadian safety rules. More than 100 tank cars
derailed Monday in a snowstorm in Mount Carbon, W.V., causing
fires that continued to burn Tuesday. The accident threatened
the local water supply and prompted the evacuation of hundreds
of families. Officials are testing the water to determine if any
of the oil, hauled from the Bakken shale fields in North Dakota,
seeped into a tributary of the Kanawha River. (February 17,
2015)
National Geographic [more on Energy
in our area]

2/18/2015 - Mayor of
Rochester should mention “Climate
Change” when publicizing
Rochester’s Energy Plan, as the plan includes, “These
include reduced operating costs, a healthier, safer and more
livable community, natural resource conservation and
restoration, and mitigating and adapting to climate change.”
It’s hard to be a leader on mitigating and adapting to Climate
Change if you don’t mention it. And why isn’t local media
connecting the dots between our use of energy and the worldwide
crisis of Climate Change? Rochester
Competes For State Funding For Energy Projects Governor
Cuomo has announced funding for a new energy competition that
will award up to $20 million for innovative energy projects in
five upstate cities including Rochester. Cuomo talked about the
plan in his State of the State message. It's part of a $35
million, five-year program spearheaded by the New York Power
Authority. Under the plan, a state-funded energy manager
position will be created for each city: Rochester, Syracuse,
Buffalo, Albany and Yonkers. Officials say this "five cities
energy plan" could save some of New York's largest
municipalities up to $400 million annually in energy costs.
(February 17, 2015) WXXI News
[more on Energy in our area]

2/18/2015 - What can
we do about Climate Change? From Bill Nye, “… just talk about
it.” It is strange that in 2015 and
COP21 coming up, we
won’t even say it here in Rochester. Not talking about Climate
Change won’t make it go away; it will just become impossible to
deal with.
Bill Nye to MSNBC: Please Just Say the Words ‘Climate Change’
Now and Then In a promo this past week, Fox News mockingly
promised to explain “Why global warming isn’t stopping the
snow falling.” But Bill Nye “the Science Guy” thinks all TV news
— not just Fox — could do more to bring the issue of climate
change into its everyday coverage, including when it’s cold
outside. “Why should we care that it is cold in the winter?”
MSNBC’s Joy
Reid said Monday after a report on freezing weather hitting
a large portion of the country this week. “Well, for one thing
the unusual nature of some of the temperatures does raise, or
should raise questions about climate change.” Joining her, Nye
warned, “Let’s not confuse or interchange climate change with
global warming,” noting that when the climate changes, “some
places get colder.” (February 16, 2015)
Mediaite [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/17/2015 - There’s a
hole in governmental funding big enough for a flood of Asian
Carp to swim into our Great Lakes.
We don’t know entirely how this rapidly multiplying
invasive species will affect
the Great Lakes ecology, but it looks like we are going to find
out.
Big budget for fighting Asian carp is downsized President
Barack Obama's budget includes millions of dollars to defend the
Great Lakes against Asian carp, including funds to finish a
long-standing third electric barrier near Chicago and to monitor
the spread of the voracious species across the upper Midwest.
But more than a year after the release of an exhaustive report
on additional, potentially more effective options to help ensure
Asian carp in the Mississippi River basin stay out of the Great
Lakes, environmentalists are voicing concerns that little
funding is being aimed at any of those proposals. It leaves in
doubt the financial commitment the U.S. government is willing to
make for long- and short-term alternatives outlined in last
year's 232-page Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin
Study which, if funded, could better defend against a threat to
aquatic habitat throughout the region. (February 16, 2015)
Detroit Free Press [more on
Invasive Species and the
Great Lakes in our area]

2/17/2015 - One of the
dirty little secrets about Climate
Change is that major national security threats are baked
into the worldwide warming. As Climate Change causes more
Climate Disruption every nation’s military forces will not have
the luxury of avoiding the consequences.
Climate change looms large in national security forecasts
With the impacts of climate change hitting the world hard,
leaders from around the globe are taking a second look at how
global warming is contributing to national security threats. On
the first day of the climate change talks in Geneva, French
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned that the stakes of the
ongoing negotiations are high, with world security on the line.
After listing the impacts of climate change that are leaving
scars on communities the world over, Fabius pivoted to the
foreign policy implications of global warming. (February 11,
2015) tcktcktck [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/17/2015 - The
COP21 Paris Climate
treaty is an unprecedented opportunity to deal with the myriad
issues inherent in Climate Change but too many will try to do
too little. We must protect our food security, for example, in
warmer world but the tendency for world leaders in the developed
nations that caused Climate Change will be to do as little as
possible at Paris. We still have time to change leader’s
attitudes by December, attitudes that will make our environment
more sustainable, not their business-as-usual attitudes.
Unmissable opportunity to build food security and reduce GHGs at
Paris COP Following December's climate change meeting in
Lima, countries are working on identifying their national
contributions to mitigation and adaptation for submission at the
end of March. These will form the basis of a new climate deal to
be agreed in Paris at the end of this year. But with no formal
arrangement for addressing agriculture within the negotiations,
we could miss a key opportunity to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions while enhancing food and nutritional security.
(February 12, 2015) International
Institute for Environment and Development (iied) [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/17/2015 - Why would
any country, let alone the US, allow untested harmful chemicals
into our products and ultimately into our environment? Have we
become so bullied by the ideology that what’s good for our
corporations is good for our bodies and our environment that we
cannot see the absurdity of this assumption?
Untested chemicals are everywhere, thanks to a 39-year-old US
law. Will the Senate finally act? Many chemicals that are
restricted or banned in Europe remain in use – and in some
cases, untested – in the US, thanks to federal regulations that
haven’t been updated since 1976. A new bill to overhaul the law
is expected this spring While the Keystone
XL pipeline and power
plant carbon regulations are grabbing headlines, another
environmental battle is brewing in the month-old 114th US
Congress over the future of the Toxic Substances Control Act.
The federal law, also known as TSCA, regulates chemicals that
Americans encounter daily in electronics, furniture, clothing,
toys, building materials, cleaning and personal care products,
and much more. It was enacted in 1976, and – in spite of the
introduction of thousands of new chemicals, as well as enormous
progress in the understanding of chemicals’ environmental and
health impacts – hasn’t been updated since then. While the law
has helped reduce use of some of the most hazardous chemicals –
polychlorinated biphenyls and lead, for example – it also has
made it extremely difficult to take many other potentially
dangerous chemicals off the market. (February 13, 2015)
The Guardian [more on
Environmental Health in
our area]

2/16/2015 - Today’s
question boys and girls: Why don’t NYs know about 2 major
changes in energy infrastructure? Ans: Media sucks. In a time of
Climate Change when our energy use has a dramatic effect on our
ability to adapt to and mitigate Climate Change everyone in New
York State should be aware of the Gas Storage issue on the
shores of
Seneca Lake and the new proposal to change our state’s
energy grid--
Reforming the Energy Vision" (REV). Why aren’t these two
energy issues in all our local mainstream media headlines? When
is our media going to change so that it reflects the warming
world we are not living on? Watch Bill Maher go after mainstream
media:
Maher Uses Williams Fiasco To Excoriate Broadcast Media For Not
Doing Their Jobs |
New York holds two meetings that sum up state's energy debate
New York State is in the middle of dramatic changes to its
energy system. Anoverhaul of
its electric grid is moving forward. And intense
opposition meets every new infrastructure project proposed
by the fossil fuel industry. Two public events in the Southern
Tier yesterday illustrate the slow move toward a new energy
system. First, an old energy project – a proposal to build a Liquefied
Petroleum Gas storage facility on the western shore of
Seneca Lake. It’s prompted fierce opposition from groups like
Gas Free Seneca, the Finger Lakes Wine Business Coalition and
Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association. During a hearing on
Thursday, the first issue raised was dubbed community character.
It’s the idea that a project like this, with its reliance on the
fossil fuel industry, 18-wheel trucks and potential for
pollution into Seneca Lake, goes against the values of its
neighbors. (February 11, 2015)
Innovation Trail [more
on Energy in our area]

2/16/2015 - Must Go To
Event: “Zephyr Teachout and Josh Fox in person
presenting: “A
SOLAR HOME COMPANION” March 1, 2015 at 7:00 pm, The Buffalo
History Museum, Lightly parodying NPR/Garrison Keillor’s popular
“A Prairie Home Companion”, the show is like an old fashioned
variety show, with music, stories, film sequences, and
Americana, but with a new twist: this show teaches its audience
how to go renewable and how to organize for a sustainable
future. Free and Open to the Public Seating is limited. Make
your reservation
here:” This program is being sponsored in Buffalo by:
Sierra Club Niagara
Group; UB School of Architecture and Planning, WNY
Environmental Alliance; and others."

2/16/2015 - You live
in or around Rochester NY and you want to act on Climate Change,
like Citizens' Climate Lobby - Rochester, NY
Facebook. Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is a non-profit,
non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on
national policies to address climate change.

2/16/2015 - There’s no
Fracking good reason to Frack because it is a fossil fuel
and it will always present a threat to our climate and our
public health, but that will never stop efforts to resume
Fracking as long as many see it as the salvation of our absurd
economic system. Our addiction to fossil fuel is killing us and
yet we still cannot stop. Though we have banned Fracking in New
York, we must be forever vigilant.
Germany moves to legalise fracking Four-year moratorium on
shale drills set to be overturned as country initiates process
to allow regulated hydraulic fracturing for shale gas
Germany has
proposed a draft law that would allow commercial shale gas
fracking at depths of over 3,000 metres, overturning a de facto
moratorium that has been in place since the start of the decade.
A new six-person expert panel would also be empowered to allow
fracks at shallower levels Shale gas industry groups welcomed
the proposal for its potential to crack open the German shale
gas market, but it has sparked outrage among environmentalists
who view it as the thin edge of a fossil fuel wedge. (February
14, 2015) The Guardian
[more on
Fracking in our area]

2/14/2015 - My area of
Rochester, NY is part of the New Single Stream Pilot Recycling
Program and I await my big totes. Because a single stream
recycling system doesn’t really increase recycling without the
big totes, I wonder what will happen at the end of the test
period. Will the City and county just drop the program and not
give out any more big totes, even though the county has spent
millions in the machinery needed to sort and pick up the new
totes? In other words, this new system needs to work. And ‘we
the people’ need to make it work. This quote from the Mayor
Warren should wake folks up “the city might save money in
reduced landfill fees” This is code for ‘if you want to help
keep taxes down, start mega recycling so your stuff doesn’t have
to be landfilled’. But the larger issue is that we want to
protect our environment and one of the best ways to do that and
address Climate Change (read “Stop
Trashing the Climate”) is to shift our waste stream so we
don’t create any waste. From cradle-to-cradle, from the mining
of resources, to making our products, to the energy used to make
them, the delivery of them, our using of them, and how they are
reused and recycling makes a big difference to our environment,
which is to say our life support system. Having been chairperson
of the Rochester Sierra Club’s
Zero Waste Committee for several years, I can say that many,
many folks in our region understand how important a role they
can play in our region’s environment by recycling
properly—something all resident and business in our area can and
should do.
City pilot program expected to boost recycling rate Four
thousand Rochester residences will be given big wheeled toters
into which occupants can toss all recyclable materials for
curbside pickup under a city pilot program that should increase
the recycling rate. They will be the first in Monroe County to
be able to take full advantage of what's known as single-stream
recycling. Single stream, which is new here but common in other
communities, usually leads to a marked increase in the recycling
rate. "It's exciting news," Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said
as she announced the pilot program at a news conference Friday
morning. "Single stream is yet another way that we are becoming
an innovative city, making recycling easy and delivering
services in a cost effective way." (February 13, 2015)
Rochester Democrat
and Chronicle [more on Recycling
in our area]

2/14/2015 - NASA
study: If we don’t bring down GHGs in a dramatic way, our
droughts will get dramatic indeed. But, of course, Climate
Change is more about droughts. One study and one aspect of
Climate Change do not make a mother of all problems make. Some
of the consequences of Climate Change, like mega droughts, can
be predicted, but there are many consequences to Climate Change
that we may never be able to predict with any clarity, not
because warming has never occurred on Earth before, but because
there has never been so many people, never so much of our
infrastructure, and never so many other environmental pollution
before. We are in new territory and we cannot respond in the
same way.
NASA Study Finds Carbon Emissions Could Dramatically Increase
Risk of U.S. Megadroughts Droughts in the U.S. Southwest and
Central Plains during the last half of this century could be
drier and longer than drought conditions seen in those regions
in the last 1,000 years, according to a new NASA study.
(February 12, 2015)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/13/2015 - How does
local media dismiss Climate Change? Here’s a perfect example:
“You know that "heat wave" that overtook the Rochester area on
Wednesday? Yeah, well, forget about it.” This is code for ‘How
can there be Climate Change when it’s freaking freezing outside
in Rochester, NY? Local media should be explaining how there can
still be frigid weather in localized areas even as the global
temperature are rising—making 2014 the
hottest year ever in human history. It is irresponsible for
mainstream local media not be to baking in Climate Change (as a
warmer Arctic pushes its colder temperatures into our region)
into every report. Climate Change is about planning. If the
public is continually bombarded by bad local news coverage on
Climate Change the public will not support the changes needed to
our public health, our various infrastructures (from more
frequent extreme weather events) and much more. This article at
this point in time (where immediate planning ahead for our
future is demanded) is negligent.
Potentially dangerous wind chill coming, snow continues You
know that "heat wave" that overtook the Rochester area on
Wednesday? Yeah, well, forget about it. The arctic weather system
that is powering toward western New York will make Wednesday's
high temperature of 32 degrees feel like a balmy spring day. The
National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a wind chill
advisory for Monroe County that goes into effect early Thursday
evening and will continue through late Friday morning. (February
12, 2015)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/13/2015 - Today’s
question boys and girls: What should we tackle first Climate
Change or Plastic Bags? Ans: Both immediately! It’ hard to
believe that before 1960 there wasn’t a single freaking plastic
bag anywhere and now they’re an integral part of our life
support system—but not in a good way. Plastic bags littering our
life support system is like you shopping for food and eating
both the contents and the packaging at the same time. It’s going
to be very hard to prioritize our choices during Climate Change
because we have to solve the warming problem, the consequences
of that, and everything else we doing to trash our environment
at the same time.
Study: World dumps 8.8 million tons of plastics into oceans
Each year about 8.8 million tons of plastic ends up in the world
oceans, a quantity much higher than previous estimates,
according to a new study that tracked marine debris from its
source. That’s the equivalent of five grocery bags full of
plastic debris dotting each foot of coastline around the world,
said study lead author Jenna Jambeck, an environment engineering
professor at the University of Georgia. And if the biggest
polluters, mostly developing Asian countries, don’t clean up how
they throw stuff away, Jambeck projects that by 2025 the total
accumulated plastic trash in the oceans will reach around 170
million tons. That’s based on population trends and continued
waste management disposal problems, although there may be some
early signs of change, she said. (February 12, 2015)
Washington Post
[more on Recycling in our area]

2/13/2015 - DEC’s
‘Hudson Estuary Trees for Tribs’ program should expand
state-wide to adapt to and mitigate Climate Change. According to
Climate Change studies our state is going to be severely
challenged by warming waters and more frequent extreme flooding.
This DEC program is a great way to keep our river ecology cool,
keep our fish cool, lower the chances that our river banks will
erode in floods, and help mitigate Climate Change—because more
trees are always a good Climate Change strategy. Planting more
trees everywhere, including your private property, which is part
of our life support system, will cool streams down for fish life
that evolved in our cold waters and trees do sequester carbon—as
long as you leave them in the ground. So, I would encourage the
DEC it expand this program statewide as one of the best ways New
York address Climate Change.Hudson Estuary
Trees for Tribs Replanting the Streams of the Hudson Valley
Estuary Program staff and volunteers install a tree shelter
Hudson Estuary Trees for Tribs (tribs as in tributaries) program
engages volunteers in restioring thousands of feet of streamside
buffer through native trees and shrubplanting. The program
offers land owners with free native trees and shrubs for
qualifying riparian buffer planting/restoration projects. Trees
for Tribs staff may also be able to assist with plant selection,
designing a planting plan, and other technical support to
improve the odds of success for projects. Riparian (streamside)
buffers are a major component to maintaining healthy streams and
waters and their conservation is a critical element of any
holistic watershed program. Riparian areas are often severely
damaged during the land development process, leading to
unintended negative impacts to our streams and rivers. Composed
of trees, shrubs and grasses, these buffers help to reduce
pollution entering waterways by slowing down and filtering
runoff, thus extending retention time and improving water
quality. Buffers also help to reduce flooding and erosion by
stabilizing shorelines and absorbing high velocity flows. In
addition, they serve an important role for wildlife as a
shoreline transition zone and travel corridor, not to mention
increasing overall biodiversity and improving in-stream health.
To learn more about riparian buffers, read the Stream
Buffers Fact Sheet (PDF) (240 KB) and use the Links Leaving
DEC's Website on the right side of this page.
The New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation (DEC) [More on
Climate Change and
Plants and
Wildlife in our area]

2/13/2015 - 2°C (or
3.6°F) goal for COP21 is very ambitious but even that it’s not
enough: new goal would complement that. The battle to solve
Climate Change politically (what we are willing to do) vs.
science (what we have to do) cannot be achieved by consensus.
It would be like saying in order to get a plane off the ground
we would need to balance the procedures of aeronautics with
those who believe in
telekinesis.
That would be absurd. If the scientific characterization of
Climate Change doesn’t prevail, we are screwed.
New Global Warming Goal Is Goal of Talks For five years,
United Nations climate negotiators and onlookers have been
focused on one big-ticket
objective: Preventing the planet from heating up by more
than 2°C, or 3.6°F. That’s a convoluted goal, though. Not all
the extra energy that’s trapped on Earth by greenhouse gases
manifests as warmth at its surface; most
of it heats up the oceans. If current trends continue,
scientists say we would blow past the 2°C target within
a few decades — but the modeling required to make that
projection produces substantial uncertainty. One of the main
issues under negotiation during U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change talks in Geneva this week is a potential new
global climate target — something more tangible for policy
makers than the 2°C goal, with progress that’s easier to track.
(February 12, 2015)
Climate Central [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/13/2015 - Climate
Change includes Global Warming but on a local level in our
incredibly complex climate system risks will vary. In the
Rochester, NY region, for example, there are many
Real Changes going on in our region right now that are not
what over regions are experiencing. And in the near future the
Likely Changes are not what other places will be facing. But
the trajectory for all of us is a warmer planet—that’s if we
survive the local variations. Climate Change is about planning
and we should be doing that on a massive scale. One way to do
that is to shift our New York State present fossil fuel power
grid to a greener power grid. You still can make comment on
"Reforming the Energy Vision" (REV) and learn more here: What's
REV Why Does It Matter?
IPCC scientists call for focus on regional climate risks
Data on geography of rising temperatures is not getting through
to adaptation specialists, warn co-chairs From heatwaves
and wildfires in Australia to flooding in India, climate change
affects different parts of the world in different ways. In the last
round of reports from the UN’s climate science body,
physical scientists produced an atlas of regional temperature
and rainfall projections. But this has been underused in efforts
to prepare for the impacts and threats of climate change around
the globe, the top authors say. Ahead of a key meeting on the
future of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
in Nairobi this month, they are pushing for
a heightened focus on localised risks. (February 13, 2015)
Responding To Climate Change
(RTCC) [more on Climate Change
in our area]

2/13/2014 - Nineteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving women the
right to vote, was a major step in acquiring all of the publics’
most cherished right. Here’s what happens when you don’t
practice that right. Powerful folks who care more about their
whacky ideology and self-interest rule over your rights,
especially your right to be protected from clear and present
danger. The Climate Change debate is over; inaction will be
catastrophic.
Senators Debate Whether Climate Change Is Real At EPA Carbon
Rule Hearing Given the chance to speak face-to-face with an
Environmental Protection Agency assistant administrator about
the agency’s much-debated Clean
Power Plan, there are many questions a lawmaker could ask.
If, say, a state decided to replace some of its coal-fired
plants with natural gas and renewables, how would the EPA make
sure that coal miners won’t be out of a job? Or, if the plan
results in less coal use across the country, how will the EPA
ensure the reliability of the U.S. electricity system? Exactly
how much flexibility will states be given while creating their
own plans to meet the greenhouse gas emission reductions goals
the EPA has set out for them? Does the plan give states enough
time to comply? (February 11, 2015)
Think
Progress/Climate Progress [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/12/2015 - Thanks to
NYS Senator Rich Funke for giving Rochester a chance to speak on
New York State Public Service Commission (NYPSC) public hearing.
Now that the specter of Fracking is over, with New York State
ban, we need to shift quickly to what we should have been
talking about six years ago—how to move to a more responsible
energy system as Climate Change
takes hold. Lots of folks talked last night about Climate
Change and the need for all kinds of renewable energy option for
our state. The NYPSC were going to pass us by, but Senator
Funke (who spoke eloquently at the meeting) suggested that they
make a pit stop here. If you couldn’t make it to last evenings
meeting, you still can make comment on and learn more here:
What's REV Why Does It Matter?
FUNKE SECURES PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION HEARING FOR THE
ROCHESTER AREA Senator led local Senate Delegation in
calling on the NYPSC to correct an oversight omitting Rochester
in its public hearing schedule; Local hearing to be held
February 11 Senator Rich Funke today announced the Rochester
area will host a New York State Public Service Commission
(NYPSC) public hearing as the result of a joint effort advanced
by Monroe County’s Senate Delegation. The hearing, part of the
NYPSC’s “Reforming the Energy Vision” (REV) initiative, will
allow residents to make their voices heard on important changes
to New York’s energy regulations that will impact local
ratepayers, taxpayers, and jobs. (January 30, 2015)
New York
State Senator Rich Funke (R) 55th Senate District

2/12/2015 - I know,
it’s the dead of winter here in NY, but still you want your kids
happy this summer and learning about growing up to be
environmental stewards. The next generation of kids will not be
treating our life support system as an externality and they need
training on that. Registration
Now Open for DEC 2015 Summer Camp Program New This Year:
Camps Run from Sunday to Friday The New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) is now accepting online
applications for its 68th Annual Summer Camp Program, DEC
Commissioner Joe Martens announced today. The 2015 camp season
begins June 28. "DEC's environmental education camps have a long
tradition of inspiring the next generation of environmental
stewards," said Commissioner Martens. "Outdoor recreation and
education experiences help campers develop an interest in
science, learning and skills that will last a lifetime. I am
always gratified when I speak with a student whose career choice
was inspired at a DEC camp." Parents may register campers only
through DEC's convenient, online registration system and pay by
credit card, e-check or with a sponsor code. Fees for the 2015
camp season remain $350 per one-week session per camper.Camp
dates and a link to the online registration system are
posted on DEC's website. Families without internet access should
call the camp office at 518-402-8014 for information on how to
register for camp alternatively. (January 22, 2015)
New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)

2/12/2015 - Ok NY, now
that we have our attention back after its having been hijacked
for 6
Fracking years, let’s talk microgrids. Let’s talk (and get
lots of funding) for an energy system that is more resilient to
power disruptions due to increase in frequent extreme weather
events (code for Climate Change) and quickly pivot towards an
energy system that doesn’t add to Climate Change woes.RFP 3044 NY Prize
Community Grid Competition The New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in partnership
with the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) announce the
availability of up to $40,000,000, under the three-stage NY
Prize Community Grid Competition (NY Prize), to support the
development of community microgrids. The objective of NY Prize
is to promote the design and build of community grids that
improve local electrical distribution system performance and
resiliency in both a normal operating configuration as well as
during times of electrical grid outages. NY Prize objectives
include empowering community leaders, encouraging broad private
and public sector participation including local distribution
utilities, local governments and third parties, protecting
vulnerable populations and providing tools to build a cleaner
more reliable energy system.
New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) [More on
Energy in our area]

2/12/2015 - Rochester,
NY local news headlines are consumed with sports so you probably
don’t know about UN climate talks in Geneva. It’s important to
follow the route to COP21
Paris Climate Conference where the fate of humanity (and all
other living beings for that matter) will be decided.
Daily Tck: Day four of the UN climate talks in Geneva
Negotiations pivot to structure of new climate agreement,
touching on crux issues Search for consensus on how to
streamline ‘Geneva’ text continues As public interest in
speeding clean energy transition swells, fossil fuel industry
offers strange rebuke Thursday agenda to include pre-2020
climate action Blaise Pascal, a French philosopher and
mathematician from the 1600’s, once famously opened a letter
explaining ‘I have made this longer than usual because I have
not had time to make it shorter.’ His logic could explain why
government negotiators more/less arrived at their Geneva session
goal of agreeing a draft negotiating treaty in less time than
many expected. Putting a long list of ideas and options on a
page is not difficult. Additional progress, on cutting and
consolidating those ideas and options, is proving much harder to
grasp. Negotiations stayed fairly abstract throughout Wednesday,
with the merits of different approaches to streamlining the now
80+ page draft text featuring prominently. (February 12, 2015)
tcktcktck [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/12/2015 -
Valentine’s Day a day to breakup with our love of fossil fuels
on Global Divestment Day.
Breaking Up With Fossil Fuels is Easy to Do Yesterday, a Big
Oil PR group released this cartoon video as an attack against
Global Divestment Day. The Environmental
Policy Alliance is a front group for Big Oil that pushes out
specious and inaccurate opposition research on individuals and
organizations who fight climate change. The group is led by Rick
Berman, who was taped by the New York Times as saying in a talk
to oil executives that “you
have to play dirty to win.” After we watched it we laughed,
then we laughed some more – then we had an idea. Aaron Packard,
our Oceania Region Coordinator, used his own narration skills to
do a remix of the video. *UPDATE* Looks like Big Oil didn’t like
our parody and made YouTube take it down, but you can still
listen to Aaron’s narration here – if Big Oil was honest, this
is what they would actually say:
350.org

2/12/2015 - Ready to
ramp up your
Actions to protect our life support system? Check out new
Action Switchboard (@ASdotnet)
ACTION SWITCHBOARD
"THE ACTION SWITCHBOARD IS A PLATFORM THAT HELPS ACTIVISTS FIND
EACH OTHER, COME UP WITH DIRECT ACTION IDEAS, AND GET THE
RESOURCES THEY NEED TO PULL THEM OFF. Sometimes we need mass
protests to make our point. We love that kind of activism, and
it’s important. But we can’t all get out in the streets together
every single day. Ongoing, sustained creative actions are vital
for keeping movements strong in between the big moments when we
take to the streets. That's exactly why we built the Action
Switchboard."

2/12/2015 - February
13 and 14 is
Global Divestment Day where we stop our addiction to global
threatening fossil fuels.
Divestment Day Aims to Strengthen Global Reach of Fossil-Free
Movement So far an estimated 200 institutions worldwide,
with combined investment assets of more than $50 billion, have
committed to divest The fast-growing fossil fuel divestment
movement is marshalling forces for this week's Global
Divestment Day—an event organizers hope will strengthen the
crusade's reach around the world and prove that it's "a force to
be reckoned with." Fossil
Free, which has sister groups in Canada, Europe, Australia
and New Zealand, said divestment day will feature a day-long
series of actions on Feb. 13 in the U.S. (which will be Feb. 14
in some regions). So far, the schedule includes 326 events
spread across six continents and 48 countries, including
flash-mobs, street theater, elaborate props, sit-ins, vigils,
dancing, a huge parade of bicycles, social media blitzes and
more. (February 9, 2015)
Inside Climate News [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/11/2015 -
ACTION: Tap your inner Spielberg. Deadline for your 5-min
chance to Become the Media! on Rochester’s environment at
FFFF on 2/27, 2015
Final Call for Entries! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to
frame our local environmental issues, like how Climate Change
will affect us, by making a short film, which is easy-peasy but
the deadline is almost here. Lean more:
Fast Forward Film
Festival |
Getting Ready for the Fast Forward Film Festival
Rochester's newest film festival is almost here. We speak with
the project director of the Fast Forward Film Festival about how
you can get your work on the big screen. (February 10, 2015)
FOX Rochester

2/11/2015 -
ACTION: Been wondering how your group can help our
environment? Help monitor our Water
Quality by being Citizen Scientists. “Citizen Science is a
vital fast-growing field in which scientific investigations are
conducted by volunteers.” Learn more, get training, get
equipment, get started.EPA Region
2 Citizen Science |
Equipment Loan Program [PDF 437
KB, 5 pp]
Apply for the Region 2 Citizen Science equipment Loan Program [PDF 318
KB, 2 pp] Citizen Science is a vital fast-growing field in which
scientific investigations are conducted by volunteers.
Individuals and community groups have long collected data to
better understand their local environment and address issues of
concern to them. Over the past decade, there has been an
explosion of citizen science projects as tools have advanced and
people have become more empowered. These projects have been
remarkably successful in expanding scientific knowledge, raising
people’s awareness of their environment, and leveraging change.
EPA Region 2 [more on
Water Quality in our area]

2/11/2015 - Curtailing
COP21 treaty because it won’t achieve
2°C (3.6°F) is like not sending a rescue boat to a sinking
ship because of room limitations. There will be a zillion
excuses from individuals, communities, politicians, governments,
corporations, and groups to NOT attempt to make the COP21 Paris
Climate treaty a success because it would be very inconvenient.
And now the realization that even with the great inconveniences
that will be caused by shifting quickly to renewable energy, and
building an adequate Climate Green Fund, and conservation
efforts worldwide won’t keep us to the 2C of greenhouse gases
rise since pre-industrial rates won’t be enough to avert future
catastrophes is not a reason not to have a successful treaty.
COP21 must be seen as a real start. Many will do anything to
stop “to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on
climate, from all the nations of the world”
Wikpedia. But there’s nothing else besides a lot of
promises. Only a binding treaty will get us moving on actions
that will actually begin the process of bringing down our GHG
emission levels and adapting to the quick warming already baked
into our atmosphere from decades of inaction. We had better stop
with the excuses and start with the actions. Time passes.
Paris Talks Won’t Achieve 2°C Goal: Does That Matter?
Officials involved with United Nations climate talks have been
warning that the next pact, which will be negotiated in December
in Paris, won’t alone hold global warming to less than 2°C, or
3.6°F. Those warnings have triggered renewed concern for the
future of the planet as negotiators meet this week in Geneva,
Switzerland, for a round of lower-profile talks. Slate
described the cautionary words — made separately by EU
climate negotiator Miguel Arias Canete and U.N. Framework
Convention on Climate Change executive secretary Christiana
Figueres — as “heartbreaking.” The Guardian characterized
the statementsas a downgrading of expectations. Figueres’s
renewed warnings prompted
Grist to ponder whether there’s “any point” to the
negotiations process. Dismay is understandable. When
negotiators agreed
in Copenhagen in 2009 to “reduce global emissions so as to
hold the increase in global temperature below 2°C,” it was
because an Earth hotter than that was considered unacceptably
dangerous. (The planet’s surface has warmed
about 0.85°C (1.5°F) since 1880, worsening
floods, storms and deadly
heat waves.) The 2°C target has since become a keystone goal
of the negotiations. (February 10, 2015)
Climate Central
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/11/2015 - Today’s
questions boys and girls: How does soil respond to Climate
Change? Ans: We better find out. Not only how plants grow in a
soil affected by Climate Change is important, but we also need
to know how soil itself (i.e., not just the stuff it breaks down
and grows) is affected by worldwide rapid warming. Some of the
those effects won’t just be simply warming, but having to endure
more flooding and erosion, and less snowpack (which is a
protective blanket during winter) and more back-and-forth
freezing, which is predicted by Climate Change. In other words,
we know precious little about how one of the most important
parts of our life support system is going to be affected by
Climate Change and we haven’t a clue as to how to technically
decompose deal material. Some
ecosystem services (a horrible self-serving phrase that
characterizes soil and other environmental processes as having
nothing better to do than fulfill our whims) that our
environment provides are not systems we can reproduce—probably
ever.
A 23-year experiment finds surprising global warming impacts
already underway Some ecosystems are absorbing less carbon,
which could amplify global warming
A new paper published in Global Change Biology summarizes
the results of a 23-year experiment monitoring how global
warming is impacting certain ecosystems. At the Rocky
Mountain Biological Laboratory, the scientists have
monitored ten 30-square meter plots of meadowland since 1989.
Above five of those plots, overhead infrared radiators have been
on constantly since January 1991, while the other five were used
as the controls for comparison. The study reports, The
microclimatic effect of experimental heating throughout the
growing season has been to warm the top 15 cm of soil by ~2 °C
and dry it by 10–20% (gravimetric basis) during the growing
season, and to prolong the snow-free season at each end by an
average of ~2 weeks. (February 9, 2015)
The Guardian
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/10/2015 -
“Scientists are having trouble convincing the public that people
are changing the climate.” Because the public is playing dumb.
It’s not that the public (especially the developed nations’
public) don’t understand what the scientist are saying. The
public is playing dumb because it’s more convenient to play dumb
and pretend it isn’t happening. The public in the developed
nations get to play dumb because they aren’t getting nailed with
their island nation disappearing because of sea level rise.
Playing dumb is what some adolescence due when they don’t want
to take responsibility for their actions, so they shrug their
shoulders and say, “I don’t know.”
Earth's Dashboard Is Flashing Red—Are Enough People Listening?
As scientists and much of the public differ on the causes of
climate change, the planet keeps getting warmer … and the
effects are adding up. Scientists are having trouble convincing
the public that people are changing the climate. A Pew
Research Center survey, released last week as part of a
broader report on science and society, found that only 50
percent of Americans believe that humans are mostly responsible
for climate change,
while 87 percent of scientists accept this view. This
37-point gap persists even though thousands of scientists during
the past few decades have been involved in publishing
detailed reports linking climate change to carbon emissions.
Evidence of a human role in climate change keeps piling up.
Recent studies of record-breaking temperatures, rising sea
levels, and high levels of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere all point to an Earth under stress from a rapidly
expanding human presence. (February 2, 2015)
National Geographic
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/10/2015 - Fracking
industry is not allowed to shit in New York, but they can shit
in Pennsylvania and then flush their shit in New York. When is a
ban on
Fracking only a half-assed ban? When you don’t stop the
whole Fracking mess.
New York Banned Fracking, but 460,000 Tons of Fracking Waste
Have Been Dumped There Environmental Advocates asked the DEC
to issue an emergency rulemaking to consider oil and gas as
hazardous waste. While an attempt to keep fracking waste out of
the state was tried for before, will it work this time around?
New York’s ban
on fracking hasn’t been enough to completely shield the
state from its public health and environmental risks, a
prominent state environment group charged on Friday. In a report
titled “License
to Dump,” the group Environmental Advocates of New York
(EANY) accused seven state landfills of accepting potentially
hazardous waste from Pennsylvania’s fracked oil and gas wells.
Using information obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection, the group said at least 460,000 tons
of solid drilling waste — which can contain heavy metals,
chemicals, and naturally occurring radioactive material — have
been dumped in those landfills since 2010. “These are highly
radioactive wastes. They are notoriously toxic,” report author
Liz Moran told ThinkProgress. “And to just be accepting them in
our landfills without knowing for sure that the public is going
to be safe, it’s just irresponsible.” (February 7, 2015)
Nation of Change
[more on
Fracking in our area]

2/10/2015 - The stop
at Geneva this week is to create a "more streamlined, concise,
manageable and negotiable text." for
COP21. And clean up the mess they left in Lima at the
COP20, not move the mess further.
Climate Talks in Geneva Open to 'Urgency' Pleas, Muted
Expectations Modest but challenging goal of week-long talks
is to produce a more "manageable and negotiable text" to form
the basis of a new climate treaty. With muted expectations for
immediate progress but an increasing sense of urgency, United
Nations negotiators convened Sunday in Geneva for aweek
of talks aimed at reaching a broad climate treaty by the end
of this year. The goal this week seems modest. It is to untangle
the unwieldy documents produced in Lima, Peru in December, by
the parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The maze-like
roadmap to Paris they agreed on was full of forked paths and
culs-de-sac. (February 9, 2015)
Inside Climate News
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/09/2015 - The issue
is not about white deer; the issue is about land conservation
and keeping our over-developed land sustainable. White deer
(and white tigers for that matter) are unique group of animals
based on a recessive gene that would usually not survive in the
wild because they stand out in the wild like a green thumb.
White deer would be spotted easily by predators and hunters;
while tigers (though great zoo attractions) find it hard to
stalk their prey without being seen, which is how these top
predators operate. We should save the former Seneca Army Depot
land not because of the white deer, but because there is
precious little left for our life support system to operate in
such a way where we can thrive. We should not be putting a lot
of our conservation efforts in saving colorful variations of
animals, while attractive to us, spell doom for the species if
this recessive trait were to become dominant. Our priorities on
saving wildlife should be ranked
according to their role in maintaining our life support system,
not how fantastic they look to us. As Climate Change makes
protecting wildlife more dear, we are going to have to choose
carefully those species that are critical to our life support
system and those that are not, based on our increasingly limited
resources.
What will come of the Seneca Army Depot white deer? In the
debate between preservation and development at the former Army
depot, a notable herd of white deer is caught in the middle
Ghost deer. Nuclear weapons storage. The nearly 11,000 acres of
Finger Lakes wilderness that was impounded in 1941, fenced off
and tightly guarded for some five decades as a military
readiness compound is now the center of a controversy over its
future. On one side of the debate over the former Seneca Army
Depot: A campaign for the site’s transformation into a wildlife
and education center. On the other side: A push for economic
development. The Army closed the former depot in 2002 and kept
a skeletal staff to oversee environmental cleanup of sections of
the property in the Seneca County towns of Romulus and Varick.
Now, with cleanup nearly done, the Army plans to vacate the site
by January 2016. Unless the property is bought in the meantime,
it will lie in the hands of the Seneca County Industrial
Development Agency. (February 8, 2015)
Henrietta Post [more
on Wildlife in our area]

2/09/2015 - By 2045,
because of Climate Change and
the present transportation
trajectory, everyday will be Thanksgiving. But not in a good
way. It is quite likely our present transportation system is
unsustainable, which is to say it’s making Climate Change worse
and the system itself (due to more frequent extreme weather and
the lack of initiative to spend the money to update it and make
it more resilient so it can accommodate different modes (think
active transportation ((walking and bicycling)) we will have to
cut our losses at some point and shift to something sustainable.
This is a critical point about Climate Change: if we don’t plan
for Climate Change we are going to continue to pour public
dollars into systems that aren’t feasible on a quickly warming
planet.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SAYS THE FUTURE OF TRANSIT LOOKS
PRETTY BLEAK This week, the Department of Transportation
released Beyond
Traffic, a report the agency describes as a 'draft
framework' for the future of transportation here in the United
States. And as it stands, our future lookspretty
bleak. In the forward to the report, the authors write:
"Beyond Traffic reveals that, if we don’t change, in 2045, the
transportation system that powered our rise as a nation will
instead slow us down. Transit systems will be so backed up that
riders will wonder not just when they will get to work, but if
they will get there at all. At the airports, and on the highway,
every day will be like Thanksgiving is today." The study
itself is over 300 pages long, looking into the current
state of transportation and the outlook for the next 30 years.
In an accompanying (and much shorter) slideshow packed
with infographics, the DOT outlines some of the takeaways from
the study, which are pretty disheartening in their condensed
form. The United States' transportation infrastructure earns a
D+ from the authors, who cite poor or aging roads, bridges, and locks,
devices that help transport boats between bodies of water with
different water levels. (February 5, 2015)
Popular Science [more on
Transportation and
Climate Change in our area]

2/09/2015 - Thanks to
the powerful climate deniers even when US President says Climate
Change is a clear and present danger, it’s politicalized. It is
the height of absurdity and extreme recklessness for the coal
industry to come out and say that the President is wrecking
their business by belaboring the obvious threat that the
disruptions caused by burning more fossil fuels is a national
security risk. We’ve entered a world where the making of a
dollar is more important than our continued existence. Time
passes.
Obama: Climate Change a Growing National Security Threat
Global warming poses one of the greatest dangers to the U.S. and
its allies, the administration says. Rising seas, worsening
droughts, melting Arctic ice and extreme weather events rank
among the most potent threats to U.S. national security,
alongside violent extremism, cyberattacks and Russian
aggression, according to a national security
strategy released by the Obama administration Friday. “At home
and abroad, we are taking concerted action to confront the
dangers posed by climate change and to strengthen our energy
security,” the
document says, declaring climate change “an urgent and
growing threat to our national security.” Energy security and
reliable access to electricity – both for the U.S. and its
allies – were also named key imperatives. (February 6, 2015)
U.S. News and World Report
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/07/2015 - The
Rochester
People's Climate Coalition HAS moved forward and they are
awesome
Rochester People's Climate Coalition moves ahead Climate
activism and action appear to be ramping up in the Rochester
area, which is a very good thing. The City of Rochester is
putting together a comprehensive plan to reduce its impact on
climate change,governments and local
businesses are leading by example on renewable energy, and
new advocacy and activism groups are forming. One of those
groups is Mothers Out Front, which
City recently profiled. Another is the Rochester People's
Climate Coalition; the group organized a local delegation to go
the People's Climate March in New York City in September. But
the coalition, which includes more than 30 organizations, plans
to continue on. And this week it's holding its inaugural
meeting. (February 3, 2015)
Rochester City
Newspaper [more on Climate
Change in our area]

2/07/2015 - A bike
share program in Rochester, NY IS feasible (and BTW it can lower
your carbon footprints on our transportation system.) Even if
you wouldn’t ride a bike in Rochester as a transportation option
for all the tea in China, many WILL do that. And because our
present transportation system accounts for 27% of greenhouse gas
emissions, it would really help if everyone in the Rochester
area (and the whole world for that matter) got behind this
effort to increase active transportation (walking and
bicycling).Rochester
Area Bike Share Feasibly Study The findings for the
Rochester Area Bike Share Program are out! Bike share has been
found to be FEASIBLE for the Greater Rochester Area! The report
recommends a four-phase, 1,000 bike system for Rochester, and
satellite systems in Brockport, East Rochester, Fairport,
Pittsford and the RIT Campus. The report also recommends
satellite systems in activity centers in the Towns of Brighton
and Greece, and the City of Canandaigua. Check out the Executive
Summary of the report here.
{more on Transportation in our
area]

2/07/2015 - DEC tells
groups concerned about dumping radioactive fracking waste in our
landfills not to worry their pretty little heads. What could
possibly go wrong with trucking massive amounts of radioactive
waste (which includes undisclosed Fracking chemicals) into our
landfills that never leak and never fill up and always
eventually break down everything in them to really nice stuff we
can reuse at a later time. Landfills are these really magical
places that will accept any kind of waste you can think of and
make it go away so we can create as much waste as we want and
never give it another thought. Please.
Groups urge DEC to toughen frack waste disposal rules from Pa.
drill sites Critics of natural gas hydrofracking called on
the state Thursday to toughen rules that allow fracking
companies in Pennsylvania to send low-level radioactive fracking
waste for disposal at up to seven landfills in central New York.
A report by Environmental
Advocates of New York, relying on public records from
Pennsylvania, found the landfills between 2010 and 2014 took
about 460,000 tons of solid waste — ground-up, naturally
radioactive rock brought to the surface by drilling — and
724,000 gallons of liquid waste.
Liz Moran, water and natural resources associate for the
Albany-based environmental group, said, "Despite knowing the
public health concerns, the Department
of Environmental Conservation enables New York landfills to
accept Pennsylvania's fracking waste with little oversight. If
fracking isn't safe for New Yorkers, then waste from other
states' fracking operations isn't safe for New Yorkers either."
DEC immediately rebuked the report as "inaccurate, misleading
and irresponsible." The agency said fears of risk from
radioactivity were overblown, adding that levels in the drilled
rocks, called cuttings, were small and "not considered harmful."
(February 5, 2015) Albany
Times Union [more on
Fracking in our area]

2/07/2015 - Doesn’t
look like a massive increase in
Seneca Lake gas
storage is going over well with local wine industry and
tourism. Farmers,
Chefs, Winemakers, Bartenders, & Restaurant Owners Protest
Seneca Lake Gas Storage Watkins Glen, NY – Wearing
coveralls, kitchen aprons, chef’s hats, and bee-keeper veils,
luminaries in the Finger Lakes food and farming industry staged
a protest banquet in the form of an al fresco feast at the gates
of Crestwood on Route 14, two miles north of Watkins Glen. All
together, more than 60 Finger Lakes food luminaries—and their
supporters—rallied outside of the compressor station as part of
an ongoing civil disobedience campaign called “We Are Seneca
Lake.” Setting up banquet tables along the snowy roadside, the
protesters served a midday protest brunch that featured
meatballs, frittatas, saurkraut, artisanal bread, popcorn,
salads, cheeses, and desserts that were prepared from local,
seasonal ingredients. During toasts and speeches, protesters
said their intent was to raise awareness among local residents,
media and legislators about the new threat that gas storage—and
the massive industrialization that accompanies it—will pose to
the culinary bounty of the Finger Lakes. By coming to the gates
of natural gas compressor station with dishes to pass that
represent the Finger Lakes region, their food business, their
farm or their restaurant, protesters said that they are
literally bringing to life the essence of their region and what
is at stake here. (January 30, 2015)
Wine Industry
Network [more on
Seneca Lake in our area]

2/07/2015 - As we dump
the consequences of Climate Change
onto our children, I’m sure they’ll find this excuse very
comforting: ‘We’re so sorry, but our emotions got the best of us
and we couldn’t focus on the science.’
Emotions, not science, rule U.S. climate change debate: study
Despite a scientific consensus that human activity is causing
the planet to warm up, ingrained attitudes among Americans mean
policy changes on global warming are unlikely, academics said in
a new study. Improving dialogue between believers and skeptics
on the importance of human activity for climate change is the
best way to foster consensus among ordinary people, according to
the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
"Strategies for building support for (climate) mitigation
policies should go beyond attempts to improve the public's
understanding of science," Ana-Maria Bliuc, a professor at
Australia's Monash University who co-wrote the study, said in a
statement. Instead, scientists who want action on global warming
should try to change the relationship between believers and
deniers, said Bliuc, a social and political psychologist.
(February 5, 2015) Reuters
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/07/2015 - Today’s
question boys and girls: What would happen if a
BP Oil Spill happened in the Arctic? Ans: A Shit Storm.
Drilling in the Arctic now that it was warmed because of Climate
Change is so incredibly insane as to be… well, insane. We
shouldn’t be drilling on land, or off-shore, or anywhere else
for that matter for more fossil fuels in a time of rapid
warming. But to drill in a place that is many factors more
difficult and dangerous than the Gulf of Mexico and the
consequences far more catastrophic, it’s just amazing that we
don’t stop drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic. This article
about finding the ‘missing oil’ years after the BP Oil Spill
must make it plain to all that our addiction to fossil fuels is
going to be the death of us.
'Missing Oil' from 2010 BP Spill Found on Gulf Seafloor Up
to 10 million gallons (38 million liters) of crude oil from the
2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has settled at the bottom of
the Gulf of Mexico, where it is threatening wildlife and marine
ecosystems, according to a new study. The finding helps solve
the mystery of where
the "missing" oil from the spill landed. Its location had
eluded both the U.S. government and BP cleanup crews after the
April 2010 disaster that caused about 200 million gallons (757
million liters) of crude oil to leak into the Gulf. (February 6,
2015) Live Science

2/07/2015 - The lack
of knowledge about the effects of Climate Change on lobsters
does not seem to be comforting Maine fishermen at all. One of
the great mysteries about climate deniers and others who don’t
take Climate Change seriously is that there is still quite a bit
of knowledge we do not have about the consequences of our
climate warming so quickly. The lack of knowledge about
something as profound and pervasive as our weather and climate
should not be comforting to anyone, least of all a bastion of
hope that Climate Change is just a hoax. The increasing
acidification of our oceans because of Climate Change is a great
big knowledge gap we need to fill. I suspect that if lobsters
cannot overcome the ocean’s increased acidification, there is no
way to save them. This would be a tipping point.
Maine Report Warns Of ‘Urgent’ Need To Address Ocean
Acidification Maine will soon need to make “hard decisions”
on what to do to protect its rapidly acidifying waters,
according to a new report. The report,
released Thursday by a commission charged with studying the
impacts ocean acidification has on Maine’s marine environment
creatures — including lucrative lobsters and other crustaceans —
states that, for Maine and its seafood industry, addressing
ocean acidification is an “urgent” matter. After reviewing the
scientific literature on ocean acidification, the panel, which
contained marine scientists, state lawmakers, a fisherman,
members of an environmental group, and others, said that Maine —
and the U.S. in general — needed more research on ocean
acidification and its impacts. “Perhaps the most alarming of the
commission’s findings is how much we do not know about ocean
acidification and how it will affect Maine’s commercially
important species, including the iconic lobster,” the report’s
authors write. (February 6, 2015)
Think
Progress/Climate Progress [more on
Wildlife and Climate Change
in our area]

2/06/2015 - Today’s
question boys and girls: Why drill down and sideways into our
bedrock to bring up radioactive Fracking Waste? Ans: No good
reason at all. Really, we cannot just move to renewable energy,
it’s that horrible that we’ll put up with
Fracking and Fracking wastewater—which New York is freaking
landfilling, even though we have banned Fracking? Why do we
continue to exhaust all the bad possible ways of getting energy
before we decide (as we must) to go with clean energy? Humans,
ya gotta laugh.
OK, so how come fracking wastewater is radioactive?
Filmmaker Josh
Kurz and The Allegheny Front's Reid Frazier created this
explainer about why the wastewater created during fracking for
oil and natural gas—flowback—is radioactive. And just where does
that dirty, salty waste water go? It's fracking amazing. The
subject of fracking and radioactivity has been a topic of
concern for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection. The agency just completed a two-year study that
found fracking in the Marcellus Shale had "little potential" to
expose workers or the public to unhealthy levels of radiation.
The report did find "potential radiological environmental
impacts" at waste treatment facilities, from frack wastewater
spills, and waste "cakes". It recommended further study of
these. (February 5, 2015)
Innovation Trail [more on
Fracking in our area]

2/06/2015 - A great
monthly newsletter, with many events and information about our
local environment.
Penfield Green Initative February 2015 E-newsletter From our
friends over at PENFIELD GREEN INITIATIVE Planning Committee,
The voice for Penfield’s environmental assets!

2/06/2015 - Breaking:
Rochester, NY forms a Climate Change umbrella group:
Rochester
People’s Climate Coalition (RPCC). With the support of 38
groups, the RPCC is building from the success of September’s
People Climate March,
“The Rochester People’s Climate Coalition addresses the urgent
need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the
impacts of global warming. Together we will create a more
environmentally just and sustainable society for all.” Here are
the goals of the RPCC: “1. Build a major force for change that
will influence legislators to pass meaningful climate action
laws. 2. Educate the general public about man-made global
warming and mobilize them for direct action. 3. Encourage local
leaders to take steps to prepare our region for the future
effects of Climate Change (e.g. update transportation and
utilities infrastructure) 4. Leverage our collective power to
encourage local media to improve their coverage of
climate-related issues. The first big endeavor of the RPCC will
be make Earth Week in Rochester in April (18th – 23rd) with
events built around Dr. Hansen’s two-day visit. World renowned
climate scientist and activist and author, Dr.
Hansen has agreed to speak the Rochester
Regional Group of the Sierra Club’s Earth Day forum. If you
are anywhere near Rochester, NY, you could have the privilege of
hearing former NASA scientist and Climate Change expert Dr.
James Hansen speak at our local Sierra Club's annual
environmental forum, to be held at Monroe Community College.
Various other events at other local venues will be included that
day, and also Monday April 20th. See his TED talk here: https://lnkd.in/dgSc2Uq .
More details to come. Join
RPCC Facebook. If your organization would like to join,
learn more:
http://peoplesclimate.org/westernny/

2/06/2015 - Actually,
you don’t even have to be a climate scientist to understand that
the Keystone XL pipeline would worsen climate change. A child
can understand that throwing up 10 billion extra tons of
Keystone XL Pipeline oil emissions into our atmosphere would be
‘significant’ and condemn us to unadaptable warming—especially
at a time when we should be lowering our greenhouse gas
emissions. We are already way over the freaking limit, so in
what way would the pipeline be sensible?
Botched Again: EPA Tells State Department to Redo Its Keystone
Analysis Environmentalists say the EPA memo effectively
tells Obama that the pipeline fails his climate test and paves
the way for final rejection. The Environmental Protection Agency
has called on the State Department to reconsider a key finding
that led its Keystone XL review team to suggest that the
pipeline wouldn't worsen climate change. The EPA said the recent
sharp decline in oil prices makes it more likely that the
project would significantly increase emissions of greenhouse
gases. In a
memo filed Tuesday as President Obama's decision on the
Keystone seemed to be drawing near, the EPA challenged the
year-old environmental review's assertion that with oil prices
relatively high, no single pipeline would significantly affect
tar sands production or greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA said
that finding "was based in large part on projections of the
global price of oil"—projections made a year ago that have not
held up. (February 3, 2015)
Inside Climate News
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/05/2015 - You’re a
student or newcomer to Rochester, NY and you’re interested in a
green career. Go here:
Living
Green or
Green Business. I often get asked by students or someone
coming into this area where can they find a green job or what
kinds of things can they do to help our environment and get the
credentials they need for a green career. The two pages—Living
Green and
Green Business—have exhaustive information for you to check
out. Also, internships are critical for students. . I suggest
you think of an internship with
New York State
Some local college students are already going to intern with
NYSERDA. Try the DEC for
internships. Any of these would be invaluable. And, most
importantly connect with the folks who do have green careers and
want to help you in any way to get going green at these monthly
casual meeting: February
Green Drinks Thur, Feb 19: 5:30-7:30pm Lento 274 N Goodman
St Opportunity to meet Students, Alumni, Community Members,
Green Business Industry Business Owners, Entrepreneurs &
Educators. Food & Cash Bar provided by Lento. Sponsored by
SUNY Empire State College, Neighborhood of the Arts Business
Association, Center for
Environmental Initiatives & Upstate Green Business Network
Green Drinks is a monthly networking event where people in the
environmental field & the sustainably minded meet over drinks in
an informal setting to exchange ideas, find out who’s doing what
& spread the word on what you’re doing, find employment leads &
make new friends.
www.alumni.esc.edu/events/

2/05/2015 - ACTION:
Today’s question boys and girls: What’s
missing from the DEC attempt to save wildlife in NYS? Ans:
Climate Change. What astounds
me about our collective reaction to Climate Change is what we
know and what little we are doing to respond to it. One of the
things we are not doing is preparing all
wildlife (and plants for that
matter, and well, us too) for the rapid warming of our climate.
Our state’s wildlife took eons to adapt to the conditions that
existed, mostly stable, for the last 10,000 years and now that
stability is over. If Climate Change is not heavy baked into the
DEC’s plans to save our wildlife, it is delusional because
wildlife is not going to be able to move though our
infrastructures (think highways) to adapt unless we plan. And
this plan by the DEC doesn’t even mention Climate Change. Make
comment on this draft and mention Climate Change.DEC Extends
Public Comment Period on Revisions to List of Species of
Greatest Conservation Need until March 9 The public comment
period for the draft Species of Greatest Conservation Need
(SGCN) list is extended for an additional 30 days until March 9,
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) announced today. DEC collaborated with numerous species
experts and conservation partners to develop revisions to the
Species of Greatest Conservation Need list, as part of an update
to the State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP). The SWAP identifies
species that need conservation action to maintain their
abundance and distribution in New York, threats to these species
and management actions that will be undertaken in the next 10
years to conserve these designated species and their habitats.
The draft final list contains 372 SGCN, half of which are
considered high priority for conservation action in the near
term. SGCN are species that are declining or are at risk due to
identified threats, such as loss of habitat, and conservation
actions are appropriate to stabilize their populations in New
York. An additional 111 species were categorized as Species of
Potential Conservation Need (SPCN). SPCN are species that have
poorly-known population status and trends in New York and will
need further research or surveys to determine their conservation
status. (February 4, 2015) The
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
(more on Wildlife in our area]

2/05/2015 - Fixing up
Rochester’s infrastructure can be done so sustainably:
“Environmental Justice—Brownfield, Open Space, Parks,
Recreation, etc”
Project Green - Phase I Strategic Residential Unit Reduction
Nomination Process The City of Rochester is proposing to develop
and manage a citywide green-infrastructure initiative that
acquires, assembles, and reuses abandoned and vacant properties.
The goal is the establishment and funding of a multi-purpose
land-bank program that strategically decommissions surplus
public infrastructure, acquires abandoned properties (e.g.,
tax-delinquent or seriously blighted sites), and relocates
households within identified areas for the program. The
long-term goal is to reduce the housing inventory city-wide by
3,000 dwelling units through a strategic clearance of structures
in order to re-establish a functioning housing market. The
purpose of that land-bank would be to control and coordinate
future redevelopment for: Economic Development—Industrial,
Manufacturing, & Commercial Community Development—Housing
Environmental Justice—Brownfield, Open Space, Parks, Recreation,
etc. Private Dispositions—For-Profit, Not-For-Profit,
Individuals Long Term Green Infrastructure Development and
Management City of
Rochester, NY

2/05/2015 - Even the
leaders of the largest businesses around the world are calling
others to COMMIT to 2C and make COP21 in Paris this December a
success. Individuals, businesses, and governments have to take
bold actions to make COP21, perhaps our last chance to
mitigate humanity’s GHG emissions, work. The window of
opportunity is closing. Time passes.
B Team Leaders Call for Net-Zero Greenhouse-Gas Emissions by
2050 Geneva, 5th February, 2015 – Today, Leaders of The B
Team running some of the world’s largest companies, called upon
world leaders to commit to a global goal of net-zero
greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 – and urged business
leaders to match this ambition by committing to bold long-term
targets. The B Team’s ambition builds on recent talks at the
COP20 climate summit in Lima, and is grounded on an assessment
of the latest scientific research, business risks and the
economic costs of failing to keep within the 2°C threshold.
Government leaders are set to hold climate talks at COP21 in
Paris this December to negotiate a global agreement, with
advance negotiations beginning in Geneva next week. The December
meeting will be a defining point in human history, with high
hopes of an ambitious agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol
and limit mean temperature increases to 2°C. (February 5, 2015)
The B Team [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/04/2015 - So yeah,
10 billion extra tons of Keystone XL Pipeline oil emissions
tossed into our atmosphere would be ‘significant’ and condemn us
to unadaptable warming. Why would anyone even consider building
this pipeline that would dramatically increase GHG emission when
we are at a time when our GHG emission need to come down?
EPA: Keystone XL to Emit 1 Billion Extra Tons of GHGs The
energy it will take to process Canadian tar sands oil and pipe
it through the proposed
Keystone XL Pipeline is so great that it will lead to about
1.3 billion more tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the
pipeline’s 50-year lifespan than if the pipeline were carrying
conventional crude. That’s the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s conclusion in its
Feb. 2 comments to the U.S. State Department, which gave
federal agencies until Monday to comment about whether Keystone
XL is in the natural interest. If built, the pipeline would send
about 800,000 barrels of Canadian tar sands oil per day to
refineries in Texas. (February 3, 2015)
Climate Central
[more on Climate Change in our
area]

2/04/2015 - Everyone
in the Rochester region of the Finger Lakes should be engaged in
this issue at Seneca Lake. It’s our
Finger Lakes environment too. You really had to be at this
rally to see how this march dominated Geneva for a few hours and
how many expert speakers talked about the need to stop this
massive (billons) of tons of explosive fossil fuel storage in
our region. More at
We Are Seneca Lake and
Gas Free Seneca. Pressure
mounts to halt storage permit near Seneca Lake Newly-formed
coalition is among those opposed to allowing natural gas and
propane storage facilities in former salt mines along Seneca
Lake As the state moves into what could be the final stage
in permitting liquid propane gas storage in former salt mines
along Seneca Lake, those against the plan are stepping up
efforts to stop it. Next week the state Department of
Environmental Conservation holds an “issues conference,” which
determines if the DEC will pursue further investigation of
citizens’ concerns on the proposal's environment effects. “This
is the endgame,” said Doug Couchon, a key organizer of the “We
Are Seneca Lake” group opposed to the plan. Couchon, who lives
in Elmira, was a speaker at a rally Saturday in Geneva dubbed We
Are Seneca Lake, Too. (February 4, 2015)
Brighton-Pittsford Post [more on
Seneca Lake in our
area]

2/04/2015 - If you
give a rat’s ass about our Environment, one of the great
features of the Internet is the increasing ability to monitor
our life support system. I suspect as the Internet grows and our
computing ability get more sophisticated, we (meaning the
general public) are going to be able to watch (monitor) the
health of our environment by putting data into useful visuals.
Once we all start getting comprehensible feedback on what’s
going on with our life support system, more of us will get
actively engaged in protecting it. It’s the future.
New website finds Great Lakes data in minutes Environmental
data on the Great Lakes region that used to take months to find
can now be found in minutes, thanks to the Great Lakes
Monitoring website. This website, created by the
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications, provides viewers with decades of
nutrient, contaminant and water data. Universities and
government agencies provide the information. “The idea was
basically trying to improve access to the EPA Great Lakes
National Program office monitoring data,” said Paris
Collingsworth, ecosystem specialist for the Illinois-Indiana Sea
Grant. “The project of developing this web page has been going
on for around 3 years.” (February 3, 2015)
Great Lakes Echo [more
on the Great Lakes in our area]

2/04/2015 -
ACTION: How we Rochesterians get
and use electricity is how we address Climate Change. Commenting
here is crucial. There are many opportunities for Rochester-area
folks to help address Climate Change but few chances to lower
greenhouse gases on a level and speed that will actually make a
difference. This is that opportunity. Don’t sit this one out.
Help move our electricity generation from fossil fuel and
nuke-based to renewable energy like wind and solar. We need to
plan ahead properly for a warmer climate and become part of the
solution. “The event begins at 6 p.m. with an hour-long public
information session to provide background on the PSC initiative.
The formal hearing, at which public statements may be made,
begins at 7 p.m. Both take place in the City Council chambers on
the third floor of City Hall, 30 Church St.”[Learn more about the
Reforming the Energy Vision (REV)]
Rochester to host hearing on changes to electric system The
public will be able to comment on possible changes to electric
generation, delivery and cost in New York at a Feb. 11 hearing
in Rochester. The information meeting and hearing, to be held at
Rochester City Hall, focuses on the Public Service Commission's Reforming
the Energy Vision initiative. The initiative, as described
in several jargon-heavy statements released by the commission,
is driven by technological improvements that are arriving as the
existing electricity distribution network is aging and extreme
weather events are putting more pressure on that system. The
initiative would seek to promote and integrate smaller
electricity generators, such as renewable solar and wind
installations, to provide stability and flexibility. It also
would seek to make greater use of demand response programs,
which provide incentives to electric users to consume less
during times of peak demand and more during off-hours. (February
3, 2015)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle [more on
Energy in our area]

2/04/2015 - The
success of the “UN’s
Green Climate Fund, which will help poor countries to
prepare for climate change and reduce their emissions” is
critical to a successful
COP21 Paris Climate Change treaty in December, which is
critical for humanity to mitigate (stop) further GHG emissions
from destroying our future. I know, this all sounds very
apocalyptic to someone who hasn’t been paying attention to this
worldwide crisis. Time passes.
Obama pledges $500m for Green Climate Fund in 2016 budget
Billions to be channeled towards climate measures in US
president’s 2016 budget Barack Obama’s 2016 budget requests
US$500 million for the UN’s Green Climate Fund, which will help
poor countries to prepare for climate change and reduce their
emissions. This will be the first instalment of the $3 billion
the US president pledged to the fund last year. “We further urge
the Obama administration to expend the political capital
necessary to make sure that Congress appropriates the funds,”
said Karen Orenstein, senior international policy analyst at
Friends of the Earth US. “We expect appropriations numbers to
ramp up next year (FY17) so the US can deliver the full $3
billion that it has pledged to the GCF within a four year
period.” (February 3, 2015)
Responding to Climate Change (RTCC) [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/04/2015 -
ACTION: If New York State can ban
Fracking, so can California (and every other state for that
matter) Petition Calf. to ban the Frack.
Join the March for Real Climate Leadership in California Are
you ready to join the largest march for climate change in
California history? On Saturday, February 7th, Californians from
across the state will come together on the streets of Oakland
for the March
for Real Climate Leadership — a rally to strengthen the
climate justice movement in the Golden State, and to make sure
Governor Jerry Brown knows that to be a REAL leader on climate,
he must ban fracking now! If you are unable to attend the March
but would still like to show your support, then sign the
petition demanding that Governor Brown ban fracking in
California now.
Sign
the petition >> (January 30, 2015)
tcktcktck [more on
Fracking in our area]

2/03/2015 - Become the
environmental media: Final Call for FFFF Entries! Entries due by
11:59PM EST, February 27, 2015
Final Call for Entries! Entries due by 11:59PM EST, February
27, 2015 The festival challenges local Rochesterians to utilize
the power of visual storytelling in 5 minutes or less to raise
environmental awareness. No prior experience in filmmaking is
necessary. The festival has no entry fee, first-place awards and
cash prizes of $1,000, and second-place cash prizes of $250 per
category. Categories are: (1) most inspiring, (2) most unique
perspective, and (3) strongest call to action. Fast
Forward Film Festival

2/03/2015 - Greeting
Earthlings: We just stopped by your planet and noticed that it
is getting very warm very fast. Plants, animals, and you are in
trouble. We have to go now. We hope you don’t let this precious
green gem in your galaxy perish.
WMO: Every year since 2000 among hottest on record Not only
was 2014 the hottest year ever recorded but 14 out of the 15
hottest years since 1850 have occurred in the 21st century,
according to new
data from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The
WMO brought together the findings of the world’ three major
climatic research units, the
NOAA, NASA and the UK’s Met Office, all of which said 2014
was the hottest year on record. The latest findings shows that
every year since 2000 has been among the warmest since the
middle of the industrial revolution. Michel Jarraud, WMO
Secretary General said: (February 2, 2015)
tcktcktck [more on
Climate Change in our area]

2/03/2015 - The
President of the United States says Yes! to increased efforts to
cut GHG emissions; Congress says No! Time passes.
Obama 2016 budget urges states to cut emissions faster
President Barack Obama's fiscal 2016 budget proposes boosting
funding for clean energy by 7 percent and a new $4 billion fund
to encourage U.S. states to make faster and deeper cuts to
emissions from power plants, officials said Monday. Obama's
budget also calls for the permanent extension of the Production
Tax Credit, used by the wind industry, and the Investment Tax
Credit, used by the solar industry, the officials said. Obama
has made fighting climate change a top priority in his final two
years in office. The White House sees it as critical to his
legacy. (February 2, 2015)
Reuters [more on Climate
Change in our area]

2/02/2015 - Food
should go to feeding people not feeding landfills or running
engines. Join fellow New Yorkers in preventing food waste.
EPA Recognizes Outstanding Food Recovery Challenge and WasteWise
Program Participants Food Recovery Challenge Participants
Alone Diverted 370,000 Tons of Wasted Food from Landfills
WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) recognizes the accomplishments of organizations and
businesses participating in EPA's Food Recovery Challenge and
WasteWise program for reducing their climate footprint,
improving efficiency, helping communities and achieving cost
savings through waste reduction. These programs save money,
protect the environment and feed the hungry. “In 2013, EPA's
Food Recovery Challenge participants diverted more than 370,000
tons of wasted food from entering landfills or incinerators. Of
this total, more than 36,000 tons of food was donated to feed
people in need, which equates to nearly 56 million meals,” said
Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of
Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “I commend the efforts of
our award winners and encourage others to follow their lead by
joining the Food Recovery Challenge. These leaders demonstrate
that protecting the environment, saving money and feeding the
hungry can go hand in hand.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture
estimates that wasted food costs America more than $165 billion
annually and that the average family of four throws away $1,600
of food each year. The Food Recovery Challenge participants and
endorsers, through innovation and hard work, have greatly
reduced wasted food. Food pantries, food rescue programs, local
food banks, soup kitchens and shelters are benefitting from
donations of wholesome and nutritious food — helping feed
people, not landfills. (January 28, 2015)
United States Environment
Protection Agency (EPA) [more on Food
in our area]

2/02/2015 - If we
don’t know how soil is reacting to Climate Change, our efforts
to address this worldwide crisis will be partially delusional.
NASA’s $1 Billion Soil Moisture Mission Ready For Lift Off
NASA is spending $916 million on a new satellite, scheduled to
be blasted into space over the weekend, following nearly a
decade of work and two launch delays, that will help scientists
measure moisture
levels in the top two inches of the world’s soils.
Scientists clamoring to probe a couple inches of loam or humus
might sound like much ado about nothing. But to the earthy folks
who research agriculture, forestry, weather and climate, probing
those two inches of dirty moisture could go a long way toward
helping us understand the world in which we live. (January 30,
2015) Climate Central [more on
Climate Change and
Plants in our area]

2/02/2015 - I’ve
marched in many rallies to protect our environment, but the ‘We
Are Seneca Lake’ rally was the first time a police officer
stopping traffic for the march said, “Thank you for doing this.”
to the marchers. The movement to save
Seneca Lake from the
massive expansion of fossil fuel storage is growing.
Rochesterians should be concerned and involved too. We banned
Fracking in New York State, but the infrastructure for
fossil fuel—more pipes, more storage, more train transporting of
more oil—continues. This will lock in decades of our monies and
efforts to more fossil fuels instead of renewable energy.
Stopping fossil fuels must go hand-in-hand with a massive
increase in renewable energy options—wind and solar. More at: “We
Are Seneca lake” More at: “Gas
Free Seneca”
CLEAR MESSAGE: About 300 descend on Geneva for a rally, march in
support of Seneca Lake GENEVA — Laura Salamendra, one of the
160 people arrested during recent protests against Crestwood
Midstream’s gas storage facility in Schuyler County, says she is
neither a radical nor a troublemaker. Nor does she oppose the
facility because of politics or a desire to court controversy,
she says. Instead, she opposes Crestwood because she and her
family drink Seneca Lake’s water. “Crestwood threatens our
safety, and we must fight back,” Salamendra said Saturday
afternoon before joining about 300 activists in a march through
downtown. “Geneva and surrounding communities must rise up to
ask, ‘Where is our vote?’ ” Backed by We Are Seneca Lake, the
group that has been leading the protests at the Crestwood site,
the march and the lakefront rally that preceded it were dubbed
We Are Seneca Lake Too. Organizers cast Crestwood’s project as a
regional issue rather than a local concern and said they wanted
to get residents at the north end of Seneca Lake more involved
in their efforts. (February 1, 2015)
Finger Lakes Times [more on
Seneca Lake in our
area]

2/02/2015 - As
Minnesota is changing with Climate Change so are all our other
states and countries around the world. The more we know about
the specific changes in our climate in specific areas, the more
we’ll be convinced of the truth of Climate Change and the more
we’ll begin preparations on a speed and scale that will matter.
Climate Change in Minnesota: More heat, more big storms Data
collected systematically over nearly two centuries make it
irrefutable: Minnesota's climate has changed and so has the
state's diverse web of life. Cold weather species like moose and
lake trout are disappearing. Maple trees are migrating north.
Bugs once killed off by winter are surviving to destroy tens of
thousands of acres of forest. Lake Superior is one of the
fastest warming lakes on the planet. Climate scientists get
nervous attributing one really warm month or one big storm to
climate change. But undeniable trends are giving Minnesotans
reason to look out the window every day and wonder whether
climate change has something to do with what they see. (January
30, 2015) MPR News [more
on Climate Change in our area]

2/02/2015 - Climate
Change didn’t just suddenly appear as a problem; we just ignored
it for a long time. ‘Wait and See’ didn’t work.
A 50th anniversary few remember: LBJ's warning on carbon dioxide
Fifty years ago this month President Johnson voiced concern
over invisible fossil fuel emissions in a special message to
Congress. It was the first time a U.S. president warned the
nation about our carbon habit. It is a key moment in climate
change history that few remember: This week marks the 50th
anniversary of the first presidential mention of the
environmental risk of carbon dioxide pollution from fossil
fuels. President Lyndon Baines Johnson, in a February 8, 1965
special message to Congress warned about build-up of the
invisible air pollutant that scientists recognize today as the
primary contributor to global warming. "Air pollution is no
longer confined to isolated places," said Johnson less than
three weeks after his 1965 inauguration. "This generation has
altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale
through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon
dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels." (February 2, 2015)
The Daily Climate
[more on Climate Change in our
area]